


Her

by Pixiigh



Category: Stardew Valley (Video Game)
Genre: Accidental Voyeurism, Choking, Dinner Date, Dream Sex, F/M, Holidays are obviously the perfect time for seduction, Is reality real?, Masturbation, Mixed Signals, Obsession, One-Sided Relationship, Oral Sex, Possessive Behavior, Rough Sex, Sebastian is kinda creepy, Smut, Snarky Internal Dialogue, Spanking, This is getting away from me at this point, Unreliable Narrator, Vaginal Fingering, Vaginal Sex, Voyeurism, Wet Dream
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-22
Updated: 2021-02-28
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:34:12
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 33,131
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26601466
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pixiigh/pseuds/Pixiigh
Summary: Sebastian doesn't get obsessive. Not really. Well, until he does.
Relationships: Sebastian/Female Player (Stardew Valley)
Comments: 55
Kudos: 273





	1. Chapter 1

Sebastian was not easily impressed.

Sure, he was a lot of things. He was moody, reclusive, smart, quiet, reserved, obsessed with frogs. But he wasn’t easily impressed.

That’s why he was so stumped when a girl walked into the Saloon and made his heart start thumping in his chest. 

He had been playing pool with Sam for what felt hours and really just wanted to go home, but when she walked over to greet Abigail with a hug, he was rooted to the spot and couldn’t move. All he could do was look at her.

He wondered who she was, and more importantly, what the hell she was doing in their tiny, shitty town. 

"I'm going to guess by the look on Seb's face that you haven't met him yet." Abigail's dry, sarcastic voice brought him back to reality. "Seb, this is Olivia. The farmer. Liv, this is Sebastian. The idiot."

Farmer? 

He vaguely recalled his mother mentioning something about the old Starlight Farm being taken over. He had been disappointed; after the previous occupant, and old frail man named Harold, died, it had become a great spot for him to smoke in private. 

Was it her farm now?

She certainly didn't look like a farmer. She had curly, red-brown hair that didn’t look entirely natural, clean and ironed clothes that wouldn’t look out of place in a high rise office, and meticulous looking makeup. He couldn’t picture her farming anything, let alone living in Pelican Town.

Then - 

“I’m not an idiot.”

Abigail rolled her eyes. “Case in point. It takes him forever to respond, if he does at all. Come on, have you eaten today? Let’s get some food, I’m starving.”

She led the farmer by the arm over to the bar where the two sat and checked out the menu. Sebastian looked at Sam.

“What the hell just happened?”

Sam appeared mostly unperturbed. "You displayed what can happen when you devolve from a normal functioning human being into a goblin who only comes out of his basement once a week to socialize and lives off cigarettes and pumpkin soup. You made a fool of yourself in front of a cute girl, in other words."

Sebastian was taken aback. “Since when do you know so many words?”

“I read,” Sam replied back, his arms spread wide around him, making comically large strides on the spot. “Ham it up all ya want, buddy, but I  _ know _ shit now. I’m like a college professor, bro. Come at me with that  _ knowledge,  _ I will knock you out of the park! And I say: you’re a fool.”

"I don't think I made a fool of myself," Sebastian said. "...did I?"

Sam gave him a sympathetic look and a simple, "dude," which told Sebastian all he needed to know about his reaction. Shit.

He hadn't really ever had any trouble talking to girls before, but he had realized it was due to the simple fact that most of the girls he had talked to in the past just weren't really his type, he wasn't interested. He wondered what that meant for his inability to talk to this Olivia. 

"She is pretty hot, though," Sam said. "Looks a little too prissy for me, but I saw her yesterday in overalls and absolutely covered in dirt."

"Is she dressing up to come to the Saloon?"

"Apparently." Sam shrugged. "Don't see that every day. Or a new face in Pelican Town, for that matter. Dunno, dude, but I wouldn't mind getting my d-"

He shut up immediately upon realizing that the object of their whispers was making her way back over, carrying a large share plate of appetizers while Abigail walked beside her, sloshing frozen cocktails all over herself as she struggled to carry four at once. 

Sebastian watched the farmer as she set the tray down on a table and hurried to take two of the drinks from the other girl, who seemed unconcerned. 

"I was doing fine, Liv," Abby said in protest as she unceremoniously handed drinks to Sam and Sebastian. She looked down at her shirt, pulling it out at the end to inspect the damage, and then promptly folded the wet spot in half and stuck it in her mouth, sucking whatever liquid had absorbed into the fabric up loudly. "I'd never waste a drink this good."

To Sam and Sebastian, and indeed the rest of the Saloon, this was regular Abigail fodder. The girl with purple hair and an obsession with swords did weird shit, go figure. His eyes snapped to Olivia once again, curious to see her reaction to the spectacle in front of them. He was surprised to see her badly hide her snickers behind her hand. 

She handed Abigail her drink after the shirt fell from Abby's lips and the two girls settled themselves on the couch, pulling the snack table over with them as they went. 

Was she seriously going to hang out with them? Sebastian's brain began to short circuit and it took Sam stomping on his foot from the other side of the pool table to snap him out of it.

"We playing or what?" the blonde asked him, taking a swig from his glass to hide the pointed look shot at Sebastian. "I think I'm finally ready to unveil my ultimate winning strategy and beat your ass."

"Fat chance," Abby chirped, her free hand cupped around her mouth to amplify her voice. "Seb is the pool champion," she explained to Olivia. "Sam sucks."

She met Sebastian's eye with a smug expression that clearly said she really thought she was doing something to hype him up to Olivia, like being good at pool was impressive and not at all lame. He was only good because he obsessively played it so much that he had an entire game plan mapped out within seconds each time for maximum efficacy against even Sam, who really did suck at pool.

To her credit, Olivia did her best to look mildly interested, craning her neck to study the felt tabletop as she munched on what looked like a fried pickle. She had a few stray crumbs near her mouth from the batter, Sebastian noticed, and her upper lip shone from the frozen drink she held in her other hand.

His mind had started to wander again, as he watched the pickle spear travel back towards her mouth, her lips pursing around it as she took a slow bite from it, a thin, slick trail of spit hanging from it for a split second before breaking off from its origin. His own mouth started to water, and it had nothing to do with the pickle.

Sam had to elbow him hard to once again bring him back to Earth. He shook his head to clear it, though there wasn't much he could do to clear the  _ other _ head that had been distracted by Olivia's lewd pickle eating display. 

"Ready to lose again?" he asked Sam, his voice cracking slightly. He hoped Olivia didn't notice that.

They played a few rounds, Sam refusing to concede like a normal person and demanding multiple rematches, and Abby keeping them all supplied with liquor. The more Sebastian drank the more wildly competitive he got, and after about four more of Emily's very strong frozen vodka fruit cocktails, he had a gleam in his eye, a hunger for victory that only smashing Sam at pool could fill. 

Olivia had just drained what Sebastian guessed was her sixth drink when she stood up, legs wobbling. 

"Sam, let me play," she said, her voice barely slurring despite the alcohol. "I'm pretty good at pool, I'll kick his ass for you."

It turned out that being around a very belligerent and loud Abby had spurred the newcomer on, and she had started getting equally cocky. Sam spared one last smirk for Sebastian before handing his cue to Olivia, joining Abby on the couch and swiping an unattended drink. 

It seemed like dumb luck that Sebastian had had just enough to drink to chase away the nerves he had felt around her earlier, his wandering thoughts now wholly focused on beating whoever he played against. 

"I dunno if you can take it," he teased. "They say I'm a master."

"Yeah, a master douche!" Abby called. "Wipe the floor with him, Liv!"

Olivia gave him a wicked grin as she watched him set up the table, her eyes almost predatory. She appeared to be just as competitive as him. Which he was fine with, of course. Just one more person to beat.

He let her go first. He corralled the balls on her side of the table and then went off to his own. As she bent over the table to line up her cue, he couldn’t help but stare. Her shirt had billowed open, a button or two having come undone at some point during the night. He couldn’t even try to hide how he watched her breasts bounce with the force of her knocking the cue ball into the other balls, knocking two into the pockets. 

“Were those mine?” she asked. “I forgot to look.”

His eyes stayed on her as she straightened her posture, slowly, agonizingly, jutting her hips forward and staring straight at him as she did so. It was so seemingly natural, but the implication of it was somehow just so sexual to Sebastian, he couldn’t even answer the question she asked. 

Sam had to clear his throat to break through the tension. “Those were Sebastian’s.”

“So...I didn’t score?” She poked her bottom lip out over her top lip in a pout; her eyes slid from Sebatian to Sam. It was endearing, but Sebastian felt fire heat up his face as he realized the spectacle they were making.

“Do you know anything about pool?” Abby giggled, drunk enough to be oblivious to the show before her. “I thought you said you were good!”

“I did say that,” Olivia replied, sipping the remnants of her drink. “But I think I may have been mistaken. I don’t know what I’m doing.” She giggled. “I just wanted to hit some balls.”

She stumbled a little as she placed her empty glass down. Abby sprang up to grab another, but Olivia held a hand up, her eyes blinking of their own accord a few times. She seemed to take a while to get drunk, and overcompensated by drinking a lot. 

“I should really go home, Abby,” she slurred. 

Shit. Sebastian panicked. He knew he would never find an excuse to see her again, he needed to keep her here.

“We haven’t finished playing,” he pointed out dumbly. “We should… uh… do that.”

The way Olivia looked at him next was almost too much - eyes heavy, mouth slightly open, red, swollen lips from the ice in the drinks, cheeks flushed… she leaned over the pool table, her shirt hanging open once again. He couldn’t look away.

“Idunnoifthatsagoodidea,” she said with a hiccup. “Perhaps I am too -  _ hic _ \- too good at hiding it, but I… I am drunk. And I should probably go to bed.”

“Crops to attend to, right?” Sam asked, and Sebastian noticed his best friend had his eyes trained on Olivia’s chest as well. For some reason, he felt annoyed by that. Sam had  _ no right _ to look at her like that.

“I can take you home,” Sebastian offered quickly, before Sam or Abby could say anything more. “It’s pretty dark out, I wouldn't want you wandering off or getting lost.”

He thought he was slick with the offer, but Abby narrowed her eyes. Nothing ever got past her, even, it seemed, when she was almost as drunk as Olivia, having matched her pace all night. 

“That’s very…  _ nice…  _ of you, Sebastian,” she said, her tone obviously suspicious. “But I can take you home, Liv, I don’t mind.”

He couldn’t explain it, but he suddenly felt the same flash of jealousy at her words that he had felt while glaring at Sam sneaking a peek. He set down the pool cue and somehow kept his composure, smiling as naturally as he could as he offered his arm for Olivia to take. 

“It’s fine, Abs,” he explained. “You’d have to walk all the way back up in the dark, but if I go, I can just cut through the path behind the farm back to my place. It’s just as fast as going up the mountain path.”

“Convenience is good,” Olivia put in, sticking her finger up in the air like it was her own brilliant idea. “Let’s go, bucko.”

She moved to him and took his arm, and when her hand curled under and landed on top of his, he felt like he was being electrocuted, warmth exploding all through his body. He could feel how hot his face was getting, and tried to nonchalantly shake his head to place some hair over his cheek on the side she was on so she wouldn’t see how much he resembled an overripe tomato. But she was preoccupied with waving at a sour Abby and a forlorn looking Sam. 

“Sayanora,” she said, her words still slurred and all over the place. “I’ll text ya tomorrow, Abby. It was nice to meet you, Sean!”

“It’s Sam,” the blonde corrected, a little too eagerly. Olivia’s attention span wasn’t quite long enough for it, though, so she pulled Sebastian along with her as she headed towards the exit. 

He followed, looked back for a second to see a suddenly stone-cold sober Abigail glaring at him with daggers in her eyes.

He wasn’t sure what her problem was. Wasn’t she supposed to be his best girl friend, and support him in all his romantic endeavours? And it wasn’t like he was going to do anything with an extremely intoxicated Olivia, he was literally just going to walk her home because he didn’t think she could get there herself. 

Right?

Of course. 

They exited the Saloon, Olivia very unsteadily climbing down the steps, and he effortlessly caught her and steadied her. When she righted herself, she pressed harder into him than she was before as they started to walk in the direction of the farm, and Sebastian had a hard time not making a noise.

_ How _ was she doing this? What even was it? 

He let her babble the whole way to the farm. It was dark when they got there. She hadn’t left any lights on.

“Shiiiiiiiiiiit it’s dark,” she commented. She let go of Sebastian as she hobbled up her front steps. He felt immediately… empty when she let go. “Are you sure you’re okay to get home? There aren’t any lights up there on that path.”

He hesitated, checking his watch. It was almost one in the morning. He knew that if he came in, smelling like liquor and whatever kind of perfume she had on (lavender, maybe sandalwood - he could get drunk on that scent alone), his mom would wake up and have a fit. He was sure a mouse running around in the Jojamart warehouse would wake her up, she was such a light sleeper.

Almost as if in her drunken wisdom she could read his mind, she smiled and said, “you can stay here tonight. My new couch is  _ extra _ big.”

It was a combination of not wanting to wake up the whole house at home and the overly-innocent look she was giving him that made him decide to stay. She unlocked the door and fumbled with the light switch before even entering the house. 

The farmhouse was small, but Sebstian could only describe it as “cute”. A very new looking L shaped couch sat in the middle of the room, atop a soft, fluffy rug. A few decorative pillows sat at each end. There wasn’t much on the walls, but he noticed a picture of an old man he recognized as Farmer Harold hung beside a column of small ceramic pots tied together with thick rope. He could see a small kitchen in the corner, with old appliances but new counters he recognized from his mom’s shop. Clearly, Olivia had done some renovating recently. 

“Lemme get you a blanket,” she said once he was inside and the door was shut behind him. She stumbled a little, but reoriented herself before he could intervene. He watched her pull a soft looking blanket from the closet near the front door and she theatrically draped it over the couch. 

“There’s the bathroom,” she said, pointing with an unsteady hand. “My bedroom doesn’t have a door yet, it’s kinda just… there. I’m sorry if I snore. I’m gonna snore. Also my cat might sit on your head so… watch out for him.”

He felt awkward all of a sudden as his eyes fell on what was probably her bedroom. He couldn’t see the entire thing, but her bed was directly across from where the door should have been, facing out, the flowery pink bedspread practically right in his face from where he stood. He swallowed a lump in his throat.

“Where’s your bedroom door?”

She giggled. “I can’t decide which one I like best at Robin’s shop. She’s special ordering me one, I have to wait a few more weeks for it. I think I might put beads up. You know, like the early 2000’s? Anyway. I… I gotta pee. Goodnight.”

She didn’t head for the bathroom, but insead, her bedroom, where she slipped her pants off, struggled with her shirt, and flopped into bed. Sebastian had barely even sat down on the couch where he would be sleeping before she started to snore. 

Kicking his shoes off, he laid back on the couch, feeling nothing but regret. He couldn't go home now, that would probably look rude. But… staying here?

If her snoring didn’t keep him up all night, the sight of one of her breasts falling out of her bra as her chest rose and fell surely would.

*~*

Just as he figured would happen, he barely slept all night. Olivia stopped snoring about an hour after she fell asleep, turning over in her bed and exposing her scantily-clad ass to Sebastian, and he could hardly look away. It wasn’t until about four in the morning that she finally crawled under the blankets, and he had peace at last. 

He had woken up to the sounds of her rustling around in her room. He turned onto his side silently, able to see right into her bed. His breath caught in his throat and he nearly  _ died _ at the sight.

She had thrown her blanket off her body and was spread out on the pale pink sheet beneath her. Both of her hands were occupied; one had hiked up her shirt to give him a full view of fingers pinching a flushed nipple, and the other hand had crept down the front of her thong. He could see her two lips peeking out from either side of the satin fabric as she explored inside herself. She let out a moan that came from her chest, loud and unbridled.

Clearly, she had forgotten she had a guest.

He realized that there was no way she could see him from her bed, especially not in the way he could see her. He had a front row seat to a show she didn’t even know she was putting on. 

And he was frozen, just staring.

Well, one part of him wasn’t frozen. Once he fully realized what was happening, he couldn’t stop his pants from feeling tighter, or the heat from rising to his face directly from his groin. 

And then she moaned again, somehow louder than the first time, and that was it for him. He pushed through the shock and reached down the front of his own pants, grabbing himself and stroking as he watched.

He had never really been into this kind of thing, watching someone’s most intimate moments. But with Olivia… it was like he had waited his whole life for this exact moment. He had only just met her, yet he wanted her  _ so _ bad, he could admit that now, cock in hand, watching her rub herself, listening to her cry out in pleasure. 

It was over for him before it was over for her. Despite being in the confines of his pants, biting his lip so hard it broke the skin to keep quiet, he finished. Hard. He had to cover his mouth with his free hand to prevent his pants from alerting her to his presence while he watched her ride out her own end. 

He felt connected to her, somehow, as they both came down and basked in the residual pleasure for a few moments afterwards at the same time. He listened to her heavy breathing for as long as he could before realizing that she had fallen asleep once again, her shirt still hiked up and one breast peeking out.

It felt almost too easy as he silently got up, adjusted himself, and snuck out the front door. 


	2. Chapter 2

He couldn’t stop thinking about her. Not that he really tried. He was sure that if he did try, though, that he wouldn’t be able to and thoughts of her would continue to race around inside his head, day and night.

It was constant; the colour of the plates Robin used, or the quilt on the couch in the living room, or the water he stared at while he smoked, reminded him of her eyes. He swore he could see her hair around every corner. And her smell… it haunted him. That sweet ghost of lavender that he could spend ages chasing after, but could never quite catch.

She was hanging out more with Abby, which drove him crazy, because it meant he saw her more. And it wasn’t that he didn’t  _ want  _ to see her, because he did, but it was just hard to be around her when it felt like he had a frog trying to jump its way down his windpipe or when worms ate his brain and didn’t let him say anything even remotely intelligent to her.

Anything she said, he ate up like a starving man offered his first meal in decades. Her voice wasn’t particularly melodic, and he found she stuttered a little, but it was like water in the middle of a desert to him. He couldn’t get enough. Every time she stumbled mid-sentence, his heart would stop until she would start speaking again.

He found out she loved dogs, didn’t like cats very much but loved her cat Abraham. She loved planting flowers and baking sweets with them, or pressing them in a scrapbook. Her favourite colour was purple, she loved pop music, and her favourite art style was modern. 

He could remember every tidbit of information she had ever shared, no matter how insignificant or irrelevant. 

After only two weeks of knowing her, he decided he loved her. 

He felt it deep in his chest. He loved her so much it made his heart  _ ache.  _ He loved her, and he wanted her all to himself. 

He thought about the night that he slept on her couch often. He thought of her hand between her legs, wondered what she thought about when she touched herself.

Was it him? Was it the idea that he was there, watching? Or was she totally unaware of his presence and her effect on him that night? He liked the thought of the former, and would fall asleep many nights with his hand down his pants to the idea of her putting on a show just for him.

She was always busy, always with someone. Didn’t matter who it was, seeing her laughing with someone, or walking alongside them always made him narrow his eyes and wonder what the nature of their relationship was.

He found her beachcombing one warm morning with Elliott, were they lovers? He had  _ wanted _ to go find frogs on the beach that morning, but had to turn around and scurry home at the sight of them together. He watched her slide a beer across the counter at the Saloon to Shane with a smile, and his chest twisted with horror as Shane  _ actually smiled back.  _ And then talked to her! She also spent a lot of time with Emily and Haley - was there something going on there? The two sisters were polar opposites, but seemed to have a common interest in Olivia. He’d watch the three of them go up to the spa from the kitchen window, arms linked and laughing. Sebastian wasn’t laughing. 

He wondered if she would ever see what she did to him when she was with someone else. He wondered if she would ever know pain like he knew, thinking about her and someone other than him. Seeing her happy with someone else. Seeing her develop a relationship with someone else, no matter how platonic it might actually be. He wondered if she would ever be able to feel the stab in her heart the way he felt it in his at the thought that she might even be remotely interested in someone other than him. He wouldn’t ever tell her though. He loved her, but she wasn’t his.

Not yet anyway.

He woke up early one Wednesday morning. Early for him, anyway, it was still after eleven. He was awoken from a light, dreamless sleep by  _ her _ voice. 

At first he thought he must have been dreaming to hear it, but he realized that she was definitely upstairs talking to his mother about renovations. She  _ was _ here. 

He got out of bed quickly, dressing fast and trying to make himself look presentable while trying to think of an excuse to pass by her. But, he realized, this was his house, and he could do whatever he wanted. Go get breakfast. Or, he supposed, by now he should think about lunch. 

As casually as he could muster, he made his way up the stairs. 

“...add onto the bedroom, I’m thinking, it’s a bit small,” she was saying to Robin, both of them engrossed in some sort of blueprint. “I really want, like, a big bay window in the bedroom, with a seat on it so I can sit and watch all the animals I want.”

“That’s a great idea,” Robin replied. Sebastian leaned against the door frame. Neither noticed him. “Totally doable, we can add the supports here-” she drew a line on the blueprint page, “and here. What about the kitchen?”

Olivia nodded. Sebastian couldn’t keep his eyes off her. “Yeah, the little kitchenette Grandpa had just isn’t cutting it. I’d like a few more of those countertops you put in, and some more cabinets to match. And new appliances.”

He waited a bit longer, watching them continue to plan, before he cleared his throat to alert them to his presence. They both jumped, surprised to see him.

“Oh, hi, Sebby!” his mother said excitedly. “I’m so glad to see you up before noon!”

He widened his eyes in warning. “Mom! Jeez. It’s… uh, work stuff. Came up to get something to eat before I start. Hi, Olivia.”

“Hi… Sebby,” Olivia said with a wink. His heart leapt at the stupid nickname. “Just finishing up some renovations to the farmhouse. Once they’re done, we can all hang out at my place on Friday nights instead of melting into Gus’s couches. I’ll have AC!”

“Oh, that’ll be nice,” Robin chimed in, leaning her cheek on her elbow against the wood of her desk and staring at Sebastian like she was intent on absolutely ruining his entire life. “Get you out for some more exercise!”

“ _ Mom!” _ he stressed again, wanting to die on the spot and almost regretting coming upstairs. His mother smirked in response, and Olivia smiled knowingly. Perhaps her parents were the most embarrassing people on the planet too.

“I’m just teasing,” Robin said. She turned back to Olivia, effectively shutting Sebastian out of the conversation. “Anyway, sweetie, let’s talk paint. What finish are you thinking of?”

“I was thinking a semi-gloss, actually…”

With a quiet sigh, he left them to their plans and plodded to the kitchen. He could still hear their conversation from there, and sat down just to listen to the sound of Olivia’s voice, pretending she was planning renovations for a house they owned together.

He didn’t hear Maru come in, and didn’t notice her at all until she tapped his shoulder. He looked up at her looking down at him with a very strange look that he decided he didn’t like.

“What?” he asked defensively.  _ Nice going, asshole _ , he thought, mentally kicking himself.  _ Nothing suspicious about that kind of reaction. _

“What are you doing?” It sounded like she already knew the answer. “Are you spying on mom?”

“No,” but he answered a little too quickly. Maru rolled her eyes.

“Well, if it’s not mom… It’s Olivia, isn’t it?” Sebastian’s silence was all the answer she needed. “You like her, don’t you?”

He didn’t answer again, which probably wasn’t the best course of action, but Sebastian never learned from his mistakes. 

“Just ask her out.”

...What? “I can’t just… just do that.”

“Sure you can.” Maru circled the kitchen table and sat across from him, resting her chin in her palms and looking very much like their mother in that moment. “It’s probably just as obvious to her how hard you’ve been simping. I bet she’s just been waiting for you to ask.”

“I’m not… wait. What the fuck is simping?”

Maru rolled her eyes. “Literally everything you’ve been doing. You’re a simp.”

“I’m going to pretend you came in here to give me good sisterly advice,” Sebastian said. He stood up. “Or, better yet, that we didn’t talk at all. I’m out.”

“I bet she would say yes, though,” Maru called after him. “Just try it!”

*~*

“Sebby, I know it’s a bit late, but could you take this bundle of firewood down to Liv’s house, please?”

Sebastian looked up from his monitor to his mother, standing in the door to his room (after having not knocked, as always) with a neat pile of wood. He raised an eyebrow.

“What does she need firewood for?” he asked. “It’s like five hundred degrees out there.”

Secretly, he wanted nothing more than an excuse to go to Olivia’s house to see her. He had just spent the entire afternoon stewing on what his sister said about being a simp. He definitely did not agree with that definition, but he did think perhaps he was a little heavy handed. Too obvious. So, of course, he’d have to dial it back a little to avoid being rumor mill fodder for a while.

Robin sighed. “I know you don’t feel temperature changes after living in the basement for years on end and living in a hoodie all year round, but it gets  _ cold _ up there at night. Just bring her the wood, please.”

He had to bite back a sarcastic reply to the innuendo she had just unintentionally presented him with. Instead, he sighed in fake exasperation and got up.

“Fine,” he said, grabbing the bundle as he passed his mother. 

“Thank you, honey!” she yelled up the stairs after him. He didn’t reply, just kept going until he was out the door.

The solitude of the outdoors allowed him to smile. Smile because he would see Olivia and have an excuse to do so without Sam or Abby around, and also not by showing up to her farm invited like some kind of creep.

The walk to the farm was peaceful, the setting sun still warm on his back, cicadas and night birds singing softly in the grass. The perfect backdrop to go see  _ her. _

He wondered what he would say to her. Was Maru really right about him being obvious about his love for her? Did she know? He wondered if he would accidentally blurt out something embarrassing and ruin her perception of him.

Maybe he would tell her that he liked her hair. That was usually a pretty safe spot to start. She seemed to really enjoy it when people complimented her hair. Then, maybe she would take him on a tour of her farm. She was always talking about her sunflowers, maybe he’d get to see those? 

He decided that if they walked among the sunflowers, that would be a romantic time to tell her he loved her. Well, he thought, maybe he wouldn’t go  _ that _ far right away. But she might like that, actually. She very much seemed to like grand gestures like that.

By the time he got to the farm, he decided to just let himself go with it, let whatever happened happen. 

What he  _ wasn’t  _ expecting to happen, though, as he set down the firewood in a container marked as such, was to hear her moaning through her open bedroom window, the squeaking of her bed following soon after.

Quietly as he could, he snuck over to her window. He spared it no more than a second of thought, thinking that he was just going to make sure she was okay (but, obviously, hoping that he was in for another show).

It was a show alright. Just not the one he wanted to see.

At first, all he saw was Olivia, spread out on her bed across from the window, her head hanging down over the foot, fists curled in the mattress, eyes closed and mouth open. It was then that he realized that she wasn’t alone.

Anger and hatred curled around his heart as he looked up and saw that absolute  _ bastard _ Shane going to town on top of her. 

As beautiful as the sight of Olivia was, the sight of Shane was absolutely putrid. Sebastian hadn’t held any real feelings of anything towards the man before, but he wished he were dead in that moment. Sweaty, grunting and red faced, there was no way he deserved this.

Sebastian’s breathing grew heavier as he tried to fight the inevitable feeling of arousal while he watched one of Shane’s hands snake up Olivia’s chest and close around her throat. To Sebastian’s horror, she seemed to like that.

Horror because it wasn’t his own hand.

He watched Shane pound away on top of her for a few moments more, anger building, until she reached up and with strength it seemed Shane did not expect, put him on his back and climbed on top of him.

Logically, Sebastian knew that he should have left right then and just texted her about the firewood. But something kept him there, rooted to the spot, both unable and unwilling to move, feeling like he  _ needed _ to keep watching.

Switching from Shane’s jackhammering pace, she slowed herself down, allowing herself to writhe languidly on top of him with a smile on her face. Sebastian’s mouth started to water as he watched her pinch one pink nipple, his pants feeling awfully tight as she moaned.

She clearly must have expected this, Sebastian thought as he quietly unzipped his pants to give himself better access. Her window was wide open, her bed moved to face it completely. Anyone who walked up to her farm would get the show. Sebastian was just taking the opportunity as it arose.

If Shane held his head the right way, Sebastian was able to imagine that it was him underneath her as she rose and fell on top of him. As he took himself in his hand, he imagined what she would feel like, what would have led up to this moment with her.

He would, of course, put her needs first. He wondered if Shane did that. He thought about how she would taste. Even just thinking about it sent a wave of pleasure through him as he pictured her writhing around the way she was now on his face as he lapped gently at her. He imagined the sounds she would make…

And then, through the glass of her window, her eyes locked on his. 

And she smiled.

And then it was all over for him. As he came down, she licked her lips, winked, and began riding Shane faster.

Shane didn’t last much longer after that. Sebastian was panting outside the window, still locked in a staring contest with Olivia, as she rolled off him. 

Their eyes bore into each other. She got up, approached the window, and with her lips arranged in what appeared to be a kiss, she closed the curtains, fake laughed at something Shane said.

As Sebastian zipped himself up, straightening out to head home, he was surprised that he didn’t feel any shame whatsoever. He walked home with a spring in his step, thinking about that smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know, I wasn't going to update this. I was honestly just gonna leave it because I was very insecure about my writing. But then I remembered how nice you guys are and decided to keep trying <3 It took me a while, and it will continue to do so as I struggle with this, but I appreciate you all!!! Thank you for reading!
> 
> Find me over on [Tumblr!](https://wonder-tweeks.tumblr.com/)


	3. Chapter 3

_ Hey _

Sebastian was startled as his phone buzzed with a text message. It was close to midnight by the time he got home, taking his time to air himself out on the walk up the mountain, and immediately closed up on his computer to get some work done. 

But, clearly, Olivia still insisted on distracting him all night, yet again. But this time, instead of just thoughts of her with his hand clenched around his cock, it was a text message from her. 

He bit his lip as he stared down at the message. Should he reply? Was she going to scold him for trespassing and then spying on an intimate moment?

Or, even worse, did she tell Shane that he had been peeking in on them and now they were both ganging up on him to embarrass him? Blackmail, maybe?

No. Olivia was certainly not that kind of person. And the secret smile she shared with him said that it was all for him.

So he replied, suavely and flirtatiously, as per usual.

**Hey yourself**

A few moments went by, and he waited in anticipation for her next message, tapping his fingers on the desk and bouncing his knee violently. It came in with a picture.

_ Did you bring me this wood? _

It was a picture of the stack of firewood he had hastily dropped in front of her house. The photo was angled so he could see where he had been standing, watching her, his footprints worn into the dirt. But when he looked closer, he almost dropped his phone.

In the reflection of the window, he could clearly see her. Topless. 

He began to choke at the boldness of it all. Did she do that on purpose? Did she just not bother to get dressed after Shane was balls deep inside her? He wanted to think it was for him, but he truly didn't know what to think.

And what the hell was he supposed to reply to this message?  _ Could  _ he even reply without making himself look like a total ass?

Until he got her next message.

_ Next time you should stay. And bring more than just the wood your mom sent you over with. If you get my drift _

_ ;) _

If a text message was capable of killing someone, Sebastian was sure he would be dead.

*~*

Every year, Sebastian would grudgingly follow his mother, step-father and sister down to the docks on the last day of summer, late at night when he  _ should _ be working, to watch some stupid jellyfish come in and light up the sea below them.

It had been a tradition in Pelican Town his whole life. And every year it was the same. People would gather, marvel at the gross, boneless creatures like they had never seen it before, and then, abruptly, everyone would go home. Then, somehow, overnight, all the trees would change, the temperature would drop, the humidity would disappear, and Fall would be upon them. 

But this year, he was actually pretty excited. And it was all due to a certain redhead who would be there with them.

He’d been skulking around Sam’s house the day of the event while Sam himself tried to show off all the different positions he could sit or lay down and still play guitar, when the front door opened and he could hear Jodi crow over Olivia, who had evidently brought over some produce.

“Oh, Livvy, this looks great!” she simpered, her loud and shrill voice perfectly audible through the walls. He could hear a paper bag crinkle as it was set down on the table outside the kitchen. “I’m going to make a beautiful salad with these. Oh, I can’t wait to tell the girls. Now, just hang on while I get you some gold…”

He could hear Olivia laugh lightly. His heart leapt at the sound. “Oh, no need, Jodi. After all, what kind of farmer would I be if I can’t share what I grow? I planted  _ way _ more than I can sell, and more than I can eat.”

It put a smile on Sebastian’s face to know what a good neighbour Olivia was. He knew she was beloved, and now he knew exactly why. 

Beautiful, smart, charitable, self-sufficient… what more could he want?

The conversation between Olivia and Jodi faded away as they went into the kitchen, and he sighed, coming back down to Earth. Which is when he noticed that Sam had stopped his stupid guitar plucking, and had put it down entirely, listening to the conversation too.

That made Sebastian irrationally angry. What gave Sam any right to eavesdrop? Olivia was  _ his. _

Seething silently, he watched as the blonde turned to him casually. 

“Sounds like I’m in for salad tonight,” he said. Sebastian forced out a fake chuckle. 

“At least you know it’s fresh.”

Sam echoed an equally fake chuckle of his own. His eyes darted around the room. Sebastian watched him suspiciously. 

And then it came.

“What do you, uh… what do you think of Olivia?”

Sebastian answered too quickly. “Why?”

“Just wonderin’.” Sam shrugged. “Been thinking of maybe asking her to hang out. I think she’s into me.”

1… 2.... 3… Sebastian had to give it a second before he replied this time, lest he seem too invested. “Why… why do you think she’s into you?”

Unless they were hanging out behind his back, Sebastian had always been there for any time she spent with Sam in the vicinity, and she could barely even remember his name, let alone be into him at all. Sam was always pretty terrible at reading signs. 

“Funny you should ask.” Sam ran a hand through his hair, clearly thinking he looked cool. But Sebastian’s eyes narrowed at the too-casual body language. “She caught me checking her out the other day. And you know what she did?”

“What?” Sebastian’s tone in answer was much more even than he was expecting it to be.

What gave Sam the right to check Olivia out? Like she was some kind of display? True, he’d done the same, but it was  _ obviously _ different when he did it. And he wouldn’t just openly talk about doing it, either. 

“She winked at me.”

“Dude.” Sebastian couldn’t believe how stupid Sam was. “That doesn’t mean she likes you. She thinks your name is fucking Sean, man.”

“Maybe that’s just like, a cute way of being hard to get?”

Sebastian looked at his friend, dumbstruck. “Sam, bud… no.”

He felt relief at saying it out loud, that Olivia was not into Sam. He knew that wouldn’t stop Sam from being a brainless goblin about it, but at least it was one sided. 

Unlike with him.

Olivia had winked at him, too, when she blew him that kiss through her window, but he was positive that it was in a bit of a different situation from when she winked at Sam. Winking at someone with a cock inside of you is a totally different scenario than winking at someone when telling a joke. But he couldn’t tell Sam that. 

He’d keep his wink to himself.

Sam, on the other hand, was not deterred. He shrugged. “Never know until I try, dude. So, I’m gonna try.”

_ Have fun when she rejects your dumb ass _ , Sebastian thought. But instead of telling his friend that, he just nodded and went back to his phone.

*~*

Sebastian arrived at the beach as soon as the sun began to set, earlier than everyone else. Robin seemed shocked at his appearance upstairs, mere minutes after coming home from Sam’s, before any of them were even ready to leave.

“Where are you going in such a hurry?” she asked, leaning against her shop desk as she watched him put his shoes on. 

“Meeting Sam and Abby there,” he lied easily. But his mother gave him a strange smile.

“What about Olivia?”

He stopped tying his shoe, looked up at her. He hoped he wasn’t going red. “What  _ about _ Olivia?”

“Well, it’s just that Abby’s been spending a lot of time with her.” His mother’s coy tone annoyed him greatly. Why was she always so fucking smug about everything? Was she rubbing it in that Abby was hanging out with Olivia, and not him? He wondered if she was getting the wrong idea about Abby, or perhaps the right one about Olivia. “I just thought that she would be down at the beach with you guys. Would be easy to go pick her up on your way, don’t you think?”

He stared at her, trying to figure her out. “I guess it would be.”

Robin, clearly having accomplished whatever she was trying to accomplish, pushed herself off the desk with an infuriating air of arrogance about her. She was very much enjoying how she thought she had him all figured out, and he had never disliked his mother more. 

“Have fun, Sebby.”

He gave her one last look of what he hoped was warning and not complete and utter embarrassment before he left.

The evening air was beginning to cool, and he found himself enjoying it. He wasn’t normally one for daytime strolls to the beach, preferred to go when it was raining, or stay near the house at the mountain lake, but something was different tonight.

He knew it was the thought of seeing Olivia.

The only person at the beach when he got there was Lewis, setting up paper lamps along the docks. He purposely gave the mayor the breadth of the entire beach to find a spot along the shoreline where he wouldn’t be disturbed. He sat on the sand just before the water met the earth and played in the wet sand in front of him, drawing little frogs with his finger dragging through it. Each time the water came up and erased his drawing, he would race to draw a new one until that one, too, was washed away.

It seemed to get dark all at once, and before he knew it, people were coming to the beach. First was Elliott, coming out of his cabin with a loud stretch and a great yawn, which caused Willy to come out too. Then Leah arrived, meeting the two beach-dwellers and collecting shells on the way. Then Haley and Alex, then Penny with Pam staggering behind her, then Doctor Harvey and Gus…

Then Olivia.

Sebastian’s breath caught when he saw her. She arrived alone, dressed in a pale sundress that came to her knees and showed off her shoulders. Her hair was half-braided, half loose down to her breasts. She looked ethereal in the light of Lewis’s lamps, and he swore his heart stopped.

He barely noticed as he found himself standing up, walking towards her as she greeted Leah with a hug. Haley came next, loudly marvelling over the dress she wore. But he didn’t care.

Soon, she was alone again, heading towards him. 

When she waved to him with a smile, he thought he would have a heart attack.

“Hey, Sebastian!” she called, and he had to think hard to remember how to make his legs keep walking towards her. 

“Hey, Olivia,” he said weakly once he was closer, not trusting that his voice would carry properly and afraid that she wouldn’t hear and think he was ignoring her. “Uh, nice night!”

_ Fuck _ , he thought furiously.  _ She’s gonna think you’re a fucking idiot. Can’t small talk for shit.  _

But she smiled, having caught up to him now, standing in front of him. The scent of lavender filled his head like he was being hypnotized. “It’s beautiful!” she exclaimed. “I was scared, with that rain we had yesterday, that today would be awful as well, but I’m glad that we get this for the last day of summer.”

_ Take notes, you thick-headed ogre, _ he told himself.  _ This is how you small talk. _

He wondered if she was going to call him out for watching her through her window, but it didn’t seem to be on her radar as she walked in the direction he had just come from, motioning for him to follow.

Like a lost puppy, he did.

“I’ve never seen the jellies before,” she told him as they headed for the shore. “I always missed them when I visited Grandpa as a kid, I always came earlier in the summer. Never missed a Luau, though. I suppose you get tired of seeing the same thing year after year, but it’s nice you came down!”

“I love the jellies,” he lied immediately. “It’s kind of like… a sign of hope, I guess.”

He’d just pulled that out of his ass and had no idea what the fuck it was supposed to mean, but he rolled with it. Maybe he’d sound deep and philosophical to her. Or maybe, he thought as she gave him a strange smile, she thought he was out of his mind.

“Yeah, I think I know what you mean,” she said instead, surprising him. “It’s funny, Grandpa used to say something like that. A hope for things to come, he would tell me.”

He couldn’t help but smirk a little at that, proud of himself for the ad-lib.

They watched the water come in for another moment in silence.

“I wanted to ask you something,” she said, and immediately, his heart sank. Her tone did not sit well with him. It was innocent enough on the surface, but there was something almost foreboding behind it that he didn’t like. Regardless, he gestured for her to begin.

“I hope you don’t get offended by me asking this,” she said, which just made his stomach clench even worse. “But I’ve been talking to Abby, and I’m not sure if I’m getting the whole picture.” His brain was screaming, his blood running cold. This was it, she was going to call him a perv… “But what is it exactly that you do? For work?”

He could have burst out laughing right there. All that panic over such a simple question. 

He held in the laugh. “I’m a programmer. I do freelance work, and that makes people think I don’t have a job, because I don’t work for a big company. But fuck that. I don’t wanna be part of some corporation, have my soul sucked out, be robbed of my passion for things.”

He didn’t know why he’d told her that. 

“I admire that,” she replied sincerely. He looked over at her, and she was looking up at him already. His face burned. “I worked for Joja for… oh, wow, eight years, straight out of high school. My mom got me the job. But, you’re right, I lost a lot by working there.”

“Corporations suck,” he said, very intelligently. 

“Fuck the man,” she agreed, grinning wildly. “Fuck the system. Eat the rich!”

He laughed. A real, genuine laugh. 

Fuck, he loved this woman. 

The beach filled up around them further. He noticed Sam and Abby out of the corner of his eye, but he didn’t go over to them, and they didn’t come to him either. They were whispering to each other, eyes full of daggers. 

He decided to ignore them.

Olivia, blissfully unaware of his friends across the beach, was looking back over at the water. “So, the jellies come every year?” 

He nodded. “Lewis puts a candle in a boat to guide them over, or something. Says they know their way.”

“Pretty impressive for some brainless tentacled aliens.”

He laughed again, and a comfortable silence fell over them.

Sebastian was surprised; while he wasn’t exactly the most social type, he was also quite terrible with silences, feeling like he needed to fill them with idle chatter, despite never knowing what to say. But now, with Olivia, he doesn’t feel like he needed to say anything. 

Well, that, and the overwhelming screaming inside his head, urging him to kiss her, would drown out any conversation anyway.

_ Not the time. _

She asked him if he wanted to move closer to the water - she wanted to try to touch a jelly. Get right on the water. And rather than tell her that it was probably a terrible idea - because weren’t jellyfish electric or something? - he obliged, and they moved closer. 

When she took off her shoes, he did the same, and they stood in the water, up to their ankles. It was fine for her, in a dress, but his dumb ass was wearing pants, and the cuffs were getting wet. 

But he didn’t care. Because he was with her.

Somewhere off to the side of them, on the dock, Lewis was lighting a candle and setting it adrift into the ocean. They watched it being carried away.

“Isn’t putting a candle in a paper boat kind of a fire hazard?” he asked. She giggled.

“Well, it’s not like you can light the ocean on fire, Seb.”

He didn’t even have time to feel stupid for his question before it sank in that she used his nickname. He thought he would pass out. It sounded so perfect coming from her lips. Seb.  _ Seb. _

He snapped out of his dreamy thoughts when she grabbed his arm, pointing with her other hand.

“I see them!” she cried. “Look, there’s a blue one! And a green one! And - oh, my god - babies!”

Before his eyes, the beach was lit up by the lights of thousands of luminescent sea creatures, all headed their way. A wave of peacefulness came over him, just looking out at them. He’d never felt this kind of emotion before looking at them, but it was just… beautiful. He looked over at Olivia, illuminated by the jellies.

_ Even more beautiful. _

Without thinking, he reached out to grab her hand beside him, only to be met with dead air as she kneeled down and threaded her own hands through the water, beckoning the jellies closer. A baby, a green one, floated her way, and it allowed her to run her fingers over its back. He couldn’t look away.

“You are so cute,” she cooed at it. “So perfect.”

_ So perfect. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I wasn't planning on posting today but I'm at 69 kudos and my immature 14 year old brain just HAD TO.
> 
> This one isn't dirty like the others but I hope you enjoy it anyway :) I'd like to develop things a little more in between Sebastian being a deviant voyeur so here we are.
> 
> Find me over on [Tumblr!](https://wonder-tweeks.tumblr.com/)


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YA'LL GOT ME GASSED UP AND THIS CHAPTER STARTS OFF DIRTY

Sebastian could hardly believe his luck. It felt like a dream.

Olivia was on top of him, her shirt discarded somewhere on the floor, her lacy pink bra hanging off one shoulder, letting out a peek of a nipple. With a simple raise of her arms, he shakily removed it entirely, throwing it down with her shirt into the void that was not her right now.

He had no idea how they got to this point, but he hardly cared as she looked down at him, her makeup and hair all done, smelling like jasmine and apple blossom. Sweet. He wanted to taste her skin.

She smiled down at him. “Do you like what you see, Seb?”

All he could manage was a nod. She took his hands in hers, ran them up her waist, up her sides, leading each hand to a breast… her hands over his as he squeezed.

Heaven.

He bit back a moan at the mere feeling of them in his hands, soft and smooth. She leaned in. He got a face full of hair, but didn’t even move to spit it out, too transfixed with the feeling of touching her going straight to his dick.

“Ooh,” she giggled. “I think you like those.”

All he could manage was a small, “mmhm,” his lips a thin line and his mouth dry as a bone. He couldn’t take his eyes off his hands. He’d never been one to really admire anything about himself, but _damn,_ they looked good with a handful of breast.

Especially hers.

She swept back her hair, swung it over her shoulder. His eyes wandered up to hers, half closed and serene looking. 

“I think you might like them better… here…” as she spoke, she removed herself from his hands, and he only had a split second to mourn the loss before she lowered herself down to him. His brain was short circuiting but he thanked any deity out there that his mouth acted of its own accord as she raised her breast to it. 

He couldn’t hold back the moan this time, and as his tongue slipped over her nipple, teeth brushing it gently, it was almost too much.

“Right again,” she said, her breath catching at the sensation. “I’m starting to think you might like me, Sebastian.”

 _No kidding_ , he thought as he regained control of his extremities again, able to sit up a little and brush her hand away to take hold of her breasts once more, not letting the one in his mouth go too far.

With her hands now free, and Sebastian otherwise occupied, she busied herself with his pants. She’d sat herself mostly on his stomach, reaching back to fiddle with his button. Once she’d done that, she pushed him down and raised her body up slightly in order to pull them down. 

“You’re wearing more clothes than me,” he pointed out helpfully, unable to look away from the red mark he’d made with his mouth near her nipple, wanting nothing more than to bury his head back in between her breasts once more. “That seems unfair.”

She feigned shock. “That does seem unfair, doesn’t it? I guess I’ll have to even the odds.”

Before she could reach for her own jeans, though, his hands were on the button instead, impatient, wanting them off as quickly as possible.

She giggled again. “A man who knows what he wants, huh?”

“You have no fucking idea.”

How long had he wanted this? How long had he pined over her, wanting her in his bed like she was now? Of course he wanted her pants off as soon as possible, because it was one less obstacle standing in the way of him getting to bury himself inside her…

Something banging on the floor upstairs distracted them both. They looked up, hearing voices and things being dropped. Olivia only focused on it for a second before she slipped out of her pants, bringing Sebastian’s attention back to her. She leaned back down to him, hands roaming his bare chest (when had he taken his shirt off? Did _she_ take it off?) and lining herself up perfectly with the tent in his boxers. Even through two layers of material, he could tell how wet she was, and he wanted nothing more than to just taste her even just once...

“Well, at least they won’t be able to hear us,” she whispered into his ear. “That’s good, because I’m loud.”

_Oh, I already know that…_

She began to move her hips slightly against him, sending electricity through his body and making him grunt in surprise. She gave a breathy giggle, straightening up and bringing her hands from his chest to her own.

“Do you want me, Seb?” she asked, her voice innocent but giving him a lewd display of playing with her breasts right in front of his face. 

He swallowed a lump in his throat. “Yes.”

Her hands slid down her body, passed down over her stomach, lower, lower until one of them hovered over his dick, painfully hard, and with only a small touch of her hand on the tip, he came with a strangled cry, into his boxers, just under her hand.

Something heavy had fallen on the floor upstairs and he could hear Demetrius yelling into the shop from the lab to Robin to bring him a replacement of whatever it was. Just before he could look back at Olivia’s face, he woke up.

Breathing hard, covered in sweat and a mess between his legs, he sat up and looked around the dark room, panting as he tried to orient himself in the dark. 

Demetrius and Robin were shouting at each other, and Olivia wasn’t there. It was all a dream. But, judging by how sticky his boxers were and how inexplicably hard he still was, he could have sworn it was real.

He laid back down with a groan, scrubbing a hand up and down his face. 

He stared at the ceiling wondering how the hell he was supposed to deal with this when his dreams felt like real life. He was _so close_ … 

His mother broke him from his thoughts, calling down the stairs.

“Sebby, Sam and Abby are here! I’m sending them down! Hope you’re awake!”

_Fuck._

*~*

Fall was upon them in full force. The trees had all changed, shedding leaves over the ground that would sometimes be covered in frost when the sun began to rise, the air cooled and the summer birds and bugs had all left to make way for the ones that thrived in the autumn. 

The change of the seasons also brought something strange that settled between Sebastian, Sam and Abigail. Something Sebastian couldn’t quite figure out.

The morning (well, afternoon) that he’d awoken from his realistic dream about Olivia, he’d been able to clean himself off and distract them long enough to look presentable once they entered his room. They chalked it up to him having just woken up, and had chirped him for it appropriately.

But things between the three of them seemed tense. They had come over because they were bored; Pierre was doing inventory at the store and Abigail wanted no part of it, and Sam’s guitar had busted a string and he was still waiting for the replacement to be delivered.

As Sebastian pulled out the board for Solarian Chronicles, setting the cards on top, he said, “I dunno why you guys think I can entertain you. I have to work in a few hours.”

He caught them exchanging looks that he couldn’t quite decipher when they thought he wasn’t looking. Sam cleared his throat. 

“Just… wanna spend time with our buddy, that’s all.”

And it just got weirder from there. The two of them were constantly badgering him to hang out, but when they got together, they didn’t really do anything. And, usually, that was normal for them, but it felt different now. 

And, somehow, he knew it had to do with Olivia.

He tried to coax it out of them, why they were always around suddenly, especially when they were somewhere that she could realistically show up at, but he returned home every night without answers.

Until he figured it out. They were trying to sabotage him. They _knew_ that he and Olivia belonged together, and for some reason, they were trying to stop it from happening.

But why?

Sam liked Olivia, that was obvious. But what about Abby? Did _she_ like Olivia too?

This was a worrying thought. Olivia had never outright said that she was interested in girls before, not that he had noticed, but the way she was around Leah and even Haley was entirely too comfortable for him, but said all it needed to.

Fuck, what if Olivia liked Abby?

No, there was no way. The way that she writhed on top of him, against his cock, whispered his nickname in his ear as she slid her hands across his body, said that she only had eyes for him…

But that was just a dream.

He shook his head, frustrated with his thoughts. 

“Are you okay?”

Fuck. He forgot he was with his family, heading to the Stardew Valley Fair. Robin didn’t let him worm his way out of going with them this time, and he had to help carry some of her woodworkings down so she could sell them to the crowds of townies that flocked to the valley each year.

He looked over at Maru, just as bogged down by wood sculptures as he was. He nodded.

“Yeah, just… heavy.” He shifted the load he carried to demonstrate. Maru laughed.

“Mom’s really optimistic this year,” she said. “This is at least twice the amount of shit she tried to sell last year. Who does she think is going to be here?”

“I think they started advertising online,” Sebastian said, shifting again. It actually _was_ really heavy. He wished Robin would get a cart or something. Or, better yet, let them drive their fucking truck down the mountain road. Every year she would ignore his grumbles about this exact situation being what they bought a truck for, and every year he would vow to just put everything in the truck anyway. He’d been making that promise for the last five years now, and never once did he think he could get away with it. So, he’d grumble all the way down the mountain and grumble all the way back up with all the trinkets she didn’t sell.

At least his sister was equally as miserable, lugging the woodworks just as he did. “Oh, that makes sense. Probably gonna be a good crowd down there, then.”

Another thing Sebastian dreaded about the Fall Fair. The crowds. It was usually the same people each year, but the thought of adding anyone else to the mix made him nervous. Especially people he’d never seen before, and would probably never see again.

They arrived in the town square early, long before anyone would be here for the fair, before most of the event tents had even set up. Only the fishing tent had been put up so far. Sebastian actually enjoyed that one - they only let one person in at a time and you could fish for as long as you wanted, and he liked to use it as an escape. Even though he was absolute shit at fishing. 

He and Maru dumped Robin’s wares at her table, where she already stood, and had been for hours. She greeted them both brightly.

“Careful with those,” she scolded lightly. “I don’t want any chips in anything. We’re gonna sell out this year, I can just feel it.”

Sebastian and Maru traded identical looks of doubt, which their mother saw. She shooed them away.

“Go be negative Nancy’s somewhere else!” she said. 

They wandered over to the grange displays. Maru pointed at them one by one.

“How much do you wanna bet Marnie’s cheese wheel will weigh this year?” she asked him, training her pointer finger at the last display, where Marnie always set up. “Wait, better question, do you think she’ll let me have any?”

“Not a chance,” he quipped in response. “You should start bringing a cheese knife and secretly taking some while her back is turned.”

“Genius.” Her eyes fell to the one beside Pierre’s usual spot. “You think Olivia is entering this year?”

He shrugged, trying to remain nonchalant. “Yeah, probably. Old man Harold always did, don’t see why she wouldn’t.”

“Oh. I thought you would have talked to her about it.”

“Why would I have talked to her about the fair? That’s boring farming shit.”

Maru waggled her eyebrows. “Oh, but I bet you’d like to talk to her about farming her-”

“Hey, guys.”

Maru was cut off by the sudden appearance of Olivia herself, standing off to Maru’s other side toting a heavy looking crate full of jars. She was so beautiful, he nearly stopped breathing - her hair was braided off to the side underneath a pale purple beanie, and she wore a matching purple flannel that was unbuttoned _just_ enough to give him a challenge to not look at the peek he was getting of her breasts. Her jeans were deliciously tight, ending with knee high boots that he could picture her wearing nothing else with. 

Sebastian panicked for a second, but the sweet smile on her face told him that she hadn’t overheard anything. 

“Hey, Olivia,” Maru said, loudly enunciating every letter. “Seb and I were just talking about you!”

He panicked again. Trust his idiot little sister to ruin everything! Why did he even talk to her?

“Oh?” Olivia cocked her head in interest, shifting the crate up onto one leg that she hoisted up onto one of the rungs of Pierre’s grange display. “Good things, I hope.”

When Maru opened her mouth to speak, Sebastian elbowed her hard and took a turn instead.

“We were wondering if you’d be entering anything into the grange contest.”

Clearly, this was the right thing to say. Olivia beamed and straightened her arms to raise her crate a little higher to show it off.

“I am!” She reached in with one hand, leaning the side it left against the display so it wouldn’t fall. “My Grandpa always entered produce, but I didn’t really have anything fresh to spare. But I’ve been making jams and jellies and stuff, they’ve been selling really well! I’m going to do a tasting with some fresh shortbreads Penny baked.”

Maru clenched her teeth together and made a sucking sound with her open mouth, like she was witnessing an injury. “You know Penny is, like, really bad at baking, right?”

“Oh, no, I didn’t know that.” Olivia’s face fell for a moment before she replaced the jar with a shrug. “Oh well. If they’re terrible, no harm in using your finger, I guess! I just won’t let anyone double dip.”

The sentence was so innocent, but Sebastian couldn’t help but cling onto the fact that her voice dipped half an octave as she said “double dip.” What the fuck _was_ it about her? What kind of a freak gets excited over _jam_?

He didn’t know why, but he was suddenly overcome with an urge to be as close as possible to her to watch her eat jam off her finger.

“Do you need some help unloading those?” he asked, desperate for an excuse to be close to her. She nodded gratefully.

“Yes, thank you,” she said, handing over the crate. He pretended it weighed nothing and somehow managed to keep it at an appropriate level, but he knew he was really only seconds away from dropping it. “I have another one in my car, and some other things. If you want to just start piling the jars in the display, I can arrange them when I get back!”

Without the crate in front of her, he could see that her flannel was short, almost cropped. A sliver of skin revealed itself as she walked away. He couldn’t help but watch her ass as she went.

Now it was Maru’s turn to elbow him, a mischievous grin on her face. She looked like a little goblin, ready to play tricks on innocent bystanders. 

“What a suck up,” she said. Sebastian rolled his eyes.

“I’m just trying to be nice, okay?” He pulled out a jar and set it carefully into the grange, hoping to get it done quickly before his arms broke. 

“When are you ever nice?”

He balanced the crate between himself and the grange now, his legs the ones feeling the pain, and was able to get the jars out two at a time. “Sorry, I don’t remember asking you.”

“Speaking of asking…” Maru gave a strange laugh. Almost an evil laugh. It was official: his sister was a goblin with dreads and glasses. No going back now. “You ever gonna ask her out?”

He could have told her that it wasn’t that simple, that she didn’t understand, but with three jars now in his hands to ease the ache in his leg, he said, “don’t you have someone else to annoy?”

She stuck her tongue out at him, but got the hint that he wanted her to leave. She headed for Penny’s trailer, perhaps hoping to talk the girl out of sharing her shortbreads with people. Maru wasn’t kidding when she had told Olivia that Penny was awful at anything in the kitchen, despite all her attempts.

Olivia came back just as he had placed the last jar in the grange. She carried another, smaller crate filled with jars, but they had different lids, some plates, plastic butter knives, and napkins. It also looked like she’d brought business cards, but they were plain and only had her name and phone number, along with the name of her farm. When she sat the crate down, he couldn’t resist the urge to swipe one and look at it.

It was made of card stock, at least, but it was terribly boring. He was thankful, though, for it presented an opportunity.

“You ever think of making a logo, or anything?” he asked casually. “I could make one for you, you know. Decorate these a little, make them stand out. I took a few courses on graphic design before I settled on programming.”

Her eyes lit up as she set the crate into Pierre’s empty display. “Really?”

He nodded. “Yeah, you could probably sell these jams at a mass market or something with a logo. Put some stickers on it instead of shipping out plain mason jars.”

“You’re amazing, you know that?” Her words caught his breath in his throat, his heart felt light at how genuine she seemed. “That would be… wow. Yes, please. Could you…” she turned sheepish, “could you make me a website, too? Make it easier to sell things?”

_I’d do anything for you. Literally fucking anything._

“Yeah, absolutely.”

Her grin never wavered. It almost hurt his heart to look at, he wanted to kiss her so bad. “I don’t know what your usual rate is, but I promise I’ll pay well!”

“You don’t have to pay me, Olivia.”

_Money is the last thing I want from you…_

“I’m going to pay you, Sebastian, don’t argue!” she laughed. “I like to help out my friends.”

He really wanted to argue, really _really_ wanted to argue, but decided not to when he saw how serious she was. So, he shut his mouth, gave her back her business card, and started unloading the crate she had.

“So, what kind of jams do you have?” he asked as he placed them in two at a time, cramming the ones with the green lids up front. He assumed those were testers. 

She pulled some of them out to show him. “This one is salmonberry, then we have grape, strawberry, melon, strawberry melon, and blueberry. I wanted to do strawberry blueberry, strawberry tastes so good with everything, but I ran out of room. Then I have some veggie jelly, for crackers and stuff. I only have pumpkin right now, but it’s really good.”

She talked about her process, and normally this kind of thing would leave him desperately bored, but he hung onto every word just to hear her voice. She was clearly passionate about it, and _god_ he couldn’t look away from her.

She had such an animated way of speaking. He found himself enthralled with her instructions on how to properly smash fruits for canning. 

She was his everything.

She stopped mid sentence when people started filling up the square. They cleaned up her set up, back at her car, and returned to her display where she began fiddling with the place of everything.

“I hear Pierre is quite the competition,” she said. “I want to beat him. He’s so damn smug, I can’t _stand_ him…”

Sebastian laughed. “He wins every year. And makes sure everyone remembers. I swear, Abby could become the president of the world and he’d still be prouder of his little grange display.”

“How on Earth did Abby turn out so different from him? I’m not complaining, can you imagine a little Pierre minion? Instead he got… well, Abby. Can’t get much more opposite than those two.”

Their conversation was intercepted by the arrival of Mayor Lewis, looking infuriatingly jovial as he approached.

“Hello there, you two!” he called. “A fine day for a Fair, don’t you think? What a lovely display you have here, Farmer Olivia, can’t wait to try some samples! And you have yourself an assistant, how nice!”

Sebastian and Olivia exchanged similar grimaces, but Olivia laughed it off.

“Only if Seb doesn’t mind,” she said.

He probably answered too quickly, but he didn’t care. “No, I don’t mind. I’d love to help.”

Lewis seemed to be shocked by this for a moment, which irritated Sebastian a little, but he shook it off quickly. “Well, the judging won’t be for a few hours. Votes are tabulated by a panel of people around town and whoever gets the highest score wins the prize! Good luck!”

Olivia shifted a few jars around and laughed nervously, looking at Sebastian expectantly. “Sorry about this,” she said. “I… I always think he’s, like, judging me. He was friends with Grandpa. I don’t mean to be so weird around him.”

“I don’t mind,” Sebastian said again, because he very much did not mind.

They tended the display all morning. More people than he’d ever seen milled about around them, and as he unscrewed jar lids and cleaned up jam spills while she sampled her products, he and Olivia settled into a companionable routine. They took a short break for lunch - Olivia shared the sandwich she’d packed - and were back at it for the afternoon.

Around two, Olivia started looking around shiftily, like she was expecting something, or someone. 

“I have some friends coming from the city,” she explained during a lull in their little business. “Actually, I’m glad you’re here. I kind of want you to meet my friend Megan.”

He frowned slightly. “Why?” he asked dumbly. 

“Oh, well.” She suddenly looked a little sheepish. Shy. What was going on? “She’s really nice, and she’s really pretty, and I just… think you guys will get along. She’s really into fantasy board games too, I think she plays Solarian Chronicles!”

What?

Oh. 

_Oh no._

She was trying to set him up with one of her friends. 

Clearly, she saw him as some kind of unlikeable loser, needing to rely on her to find him someone to be with. She didn’t like him.

_She didn’t like him._

But he loved her.

He felt a weird sort of stab in his chest, one that just got worse the more he thought about the situation in front of him. 

“I’m not trying to, like, set you up or anything,” she said, breaking through his thoughts. “I’m not really a matchmaker. It’s just that you said you liked playing with big groups of people, and I think you guys would have fun together!” 

He doubted it, but said nothing. She was very obviously trying to set him up. He didn’t want to let her see what her words and intentions were doing to him. Even though he wanted nothing more than to shake her and tell her that he didn’t give a shit about Megan.

Another hour passed before a group of people entering the town square made Olivia sequel.

“Over here!” she called to them, standing up on her tiptoes and waving her hand around. There were four of them - three women and a child, a little boy, about Jas and Vincent’s age. The women were pretty, he had to admit, but none of them held a candle to Olivia.

They joined him and Olivia over at her grange, crowding in and hugging her. She even hugged the child, who seemed beside himself with excitement to see her. 

“Hey guys!” she said after she’d let the little boy go. “This is my friend, Sebastian. Seb, this is Stephanie,” she pointed to a woman with brown hair, “Holly,” a woman with hair the same colour as his, “and this is Megan.” 

Megan was a blonde. Sebastian didn’t like blondes. 

“And this,” Olivia said, ruffling the child’s hair. “Is Riley. He’s Holly’s son, and my godson!”

“Sebastian is a cool name,” the kid said to him. “Like the crab in Little Mermaid. He’s cool. I like crabs.”

Sebastian was terrible with kids. It wasn’t that he didn’t like him, because actually, he did, and often thought of being a father himself, but he just had no idea how to talk to them. The only kid he’d regularly talked to was Vincent, who was spoiled absolutely rotten by Jodi and acted like a real shithead most of the time. Jas was always way too shy to talk to him. 

But something about seeing the woman he loved with a child that meant something to her… it mesmerized him. They clearly loved each other, which meant she was good with kids.

He cleared his throat. “I’m not _quite_ as cool as Sebastian the crab. I can’t play bongos like he can. But I can play a keyboard.”

“You can make bongo noises with the keyboard, though!!” Riley cried, clearly very invested in this now. “Plus, your hands aren’t as pinchy as a crab. One time, I held a crab, and I held it too close to my face, and it pinched me! It pinched my nose!”

“Yeah, I don’t think they like being held very much.”

“I saved it from being eaten by a seagull,” the boy said proudly. “He was just sitting there in the sun. But then I dropped him, and the seagull ate him anyway.”

Well, that story took a bit of a dark turn. Sebastian didn’t know what to say. He was saved by Holly, Riley’s mother, putting a hand on his shoulder.

“Honey, I think you’re being a little overwhelming,” she said. He made a face, but visibly calmed down. 

The four of them stayed near Olivia’s stand a while longer. Despite being very clearly under the impression that she had been here to meet Sebastian as a romantic prospect, Sebastian was very chilly towards Megan. 

She wasn’t Olivia. So there was no way he would even think about going down that road. 

Eventually, though, Olivia’s four friends departed to check out the other events, when Lewis came back over for judging. Olivia cheerfully sampled her jam to him and he smacked his lips loudly and disgustingly. 

“Well, that settles it,” the mayor said. “Attention everyone! The winner of the Fair will be announced in just a few minutes!”

From beside them, Pierre gave a smug little chuckle, clearly under the impression that he was going to win. Sebastian wanted to kick him.

The results reading was rather underwhelming, though Olivia did win. She cheered and high fived Sebastian with both hands. If only she would hold on for another few seconds…

The festival started to wind down as the sun set, and Olivia’s friends wandered back over as the square was starting to clear out. There wasn’t much left in her display, having sold most of her jams, but Sebastian volunteered to clear it out and take the leftovers back to her car to avoid having to talk to Megan again.

He took his time getting back, able to admire Olivia’s ass from afar. That was good enough for him. And that’s when he realized that they were having a conversation. He paused to listen.

“... time to drop the charade, Liv, and move back to the city.” Sebastian guessed it was Stephanie talking; he knew Megan’s voice by this point, after all the conversations she’d tried to start with him, and he could see Holly from where he was standing, and she was mostly paying attention to Riley. “These jams are cute and whatever, but this isn’t you. And that guy you’re hanging out with? Are they all that rude?”

“He’s an ass, Liv,” Megan chimed in. Despite more or less being the result he desired, Sebastian was still offended to hear it out loud. “Why’d you drag me out here to meet a guy who just ignored me the whole time?”

Sebastian frowned. What were they trying to do? Olivia was very clearly thriving in Pelican Town. Her farm was a success, she was making great money, she was happy, the whole town loved her… why would she go back to the city? He hoped that she would rebuff them.

And she did. “Guys, you’ve been here for, like, two hours. You have _no_ idea how things are going. There’s no charade, or whatever. I love it here. I’m not going to leave. And Seb… I dunno, Seb just doesn’t like crowds. There’s nothing wrong with that. We’ve been out here since eight this morning, give him a break.”

Stephanie didn’t seem convinced, though. “Seriously, Olivia, you might be having fun now but-”

“ _Having fun?”_ Olivia cut her off incredulously. “You think this is just about having fun? This is my fucking _life,_ Steph, and you have no say over it. None. I’m sorry you came all this way to try to spirit me away back to the city, but I’m staying. Not here, specifically, but I’m going back to my farm. Away from you.”

She stomped off, passing Sebastian and only sparing him a passing glance before waving him over to her car.

“I know you heard everything,” she said. “Come on. I’ll drive you home. I gotta rage a bit.”

*~*

Olivia was a scary driver. Sebastian didn’t know if it was because she was angry, or if she always drove like this, but he was honestly shocked when they made it to his mountain home in one piece.

As he was leaving her car, he paused for a moment. “Are you, uh, gonna be okay?”

“I’ll be fine.” She made a move to wave him off, but seemed to think better of it. “Actually, do you mind if I hang out here for a bit? I don’t trust them not to try to ambush me at my farm.”

And so, that was how he and Olivia hung out for the rest of the evening. He moved through the time in a daze, hesitating to bring her down to his room, but she was fascinated by the collections of fantasy and science fiction novels he had in his bookshelf. It kept her busy, and when she bent over to look at the ones on the lower shelves, gave him something to look at.

“I’m sorry about Megan, by the way,” she said, flopped on his couch and peeking over a horror graphic novel she had been perusing. “I… I dunno. I just thought it might be… nice. Fuck. It was stupid, wasn’t it? Yeah, it was.”

He snorted. “Megan isn’t my type.”

“Well, what is your type?” she asked, gently putting the book down, sitting up and looking at him intensely. 

He didn’t want to answer that. Not directly, anyway. “I don’t like… blondes.”

And it was true. He didn’t know what it was. And, to be fair, normally he wasn’t really into redheads either, they reminded him too much of his mother, but Olivia was different. Her hair was almost brown, anyway. And she was _different._

But it wasn’t like he was going to tell her that _she_ was his type. He realized that it might be a little awkward, too forward. Especially since she’d just tried to set him up with one of her friends.

“Hm.” She leaned back in her seat. “Neither do I, actually.”

_Take that, Sam, you fair-haired cretin._

The conversation fizzled into nothing. So, Sebastian did what he knew best. He opened his desk drawer and held up one of his most prized possessions.

“Wanna smoke a bowl?”

She stared at him. “In your mom’s basement?”

Okay. Maybe he deserved that. It wasn’t exactly the most inviting place to be, let alone use any kind of substance. 

“My mom parties with Caroline till, like, three in the morning every year after the Fair,” he said. “Plus, Olivia, I am an _adult._ I can do what I want. And I don’t do it in here. I do it in the bathroom, where I can open the window. Like a sane person.”

She giggled and stood up. “Okay, I’m game. Let’s go.”

The basement bathroom wasn’t very big, but there was enough room for the two of them to sit on the edge of the bathtub under the window Sebastian cranked open. Though he’d cut down recently on his weed consumption, it still made him feel peaceful as they went through the small amount he had left, idle conversation about jam like music to his ears.

It seemed to affect Olivia more than it did him. When they were finished, back in his room as he stashed everything away, she blinked at him a few times.

“Is your bed comfy?” she asked. He nodded, slowly, wondering where she was going with it. 

He didn’t have to wonder long before she flopped on top of the comforter, pulling it closely to her body, wrapping herself in a ball. 

“I am sooooo tired,” she said, her voice muffled by the comforter. “Aren’t you tired? Hey, come here. Into my nest. Oh. Oh, your blankets smell nice.”

He had washed his bed clothes recently, thanks to his ridiculously vivid dreams. Robin always bought the nicest detergent.

“Seb. Seb. Seb, come here.”

The way she said his name put him into a trance, and he could hardly feel his body as he walked to the bed, immersing himself under the blankets beside her. She scooted herself over to him, and without thinking, he wrapped his arms around her.

He felt _amazing._ Her weight in his arms felt so right, so natural. He never wanted to let go of her.

“You’re soooo warm,” she told him, nestling her head into the crook of his neck. “It’s cool I sleep here, right? Cause I can’t get up. I’m jelly.”

“It’s okay,” he said into her hair. _Of course it’s okay._

“Hey, thanks for hanging out with me today,” she said, her voice quiet with sleep. “I had a lot of fun. Also, my friends suck. I’m not going to leave. I just got here. Plus, if I leave, you’ll be too far away…”

Her scent was unreal. That sweet lavender filling his head, making him drowsy. He could kiss her, she was right there, it was the perfect opportunity, if only he wasn’t so sleepy...

It didn’t take long for him to fall asleep to the sound of her breathing, watching her back rise and fall from his arms, his hands tangled in her hair as he held her close.

But he woke up only a few hours later, all the lights on in his room, spooning a pillow in a nest of blankets in the middle of his bed, smelling nothing but weed and his own sweat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys have hyped me up way too much, I binge wrote this in like two days when normally it takes me WEEKS to finish a chapter. I appreciate you all so much! Thank you for reading!
> 
> I hope the first scene is okay! It was the bulk of my effort lol phew, gonna go hide for a few days to work up to reading any comments about it just in case I didn't do it well lol. 
> 
> I also hope someone can see what I'm building up to :) Keep it a secret though! I think I'm REALLY clever for it and I'm very excited to share it with you.
> 
> Find me over on [Tumblr!](https://wonder-tweeks.tumblr.com/)


	5. Chapter 5

Three days before Spirit’s Eve, Sebastian received an invitation in the mail.

It had been years since he’d gotten an honest to goodness, actual invitation to a party. Strangely, Robin remembered the last one.

“You were I think ten,” she cooed at him as she handed it over. “Remember, that was the one where I threatened to beat up Pierre if he didn’t send you one to Abby’s party? Isn’t it funny how that’s why you two became friends?”

Actually, it was funny. He laughed along with his mother.

Sebastian was three years older than Abby, and she was still having “little kid” birthday parties when he was ten. Invitations were given all around their small school, and to every kid in Pelican Town, except him. He didn’t really care, because he genuinely thought he was too cool to hang out with Abby back then (and, to be fair, Abby was a really fucking weird kid), but when Maru came home with one, and Robin found out that he was the only one without an invitation, she lost her mind.

She dragged him along down the mountain path to Pierre’s shop, not paying any attention to the fact that it was a busy day and townspeople crowded the aisles. This was before Joja had laid down roots in town, so it was bustling. But Robin didn’t care. 

She marched right up to the counter where Pierre stood, keeping a firm hand on Sebastian’s shoulder as he avoided eye contact with everyone. Pierre opened his mouth to greet the carpenter, but she didn’t even let him get a word out.

“Who do you think you are?” she asked, her tone dangerous and low. Sebastian had heard that tone before. She’d use it on his dad all the time before he left. That was how he knew someone was in trouble. “Who do you think you are, Pierre, sending invitations to your daughter’s birthday party to everyone except my son?”

Pierre pretended to be surprised, clearly having never been on the receiving end of Robin’s anger. “ _ I’m _ not the one who sent them out, it was Abigail!”

“Oh, so you think it’s okay to teach your daughter that it’s fine to just exclude kids? Wow, Pierre, you’re such a great dad. She’s gonna turn out great.”

From beside Pierre, a small hand reached up and tugged on his sleeve. Abby, seven years old with chestnut brown hair and big blue eyes, stared up at him. 

“No, daddy, I invited Sebastian, remember?” she said, her voice loud and lispy as children’s voices often were. “You said I couldn’t, though!”

Pierre very quickly tried to hush her, but the damage was done. Sebastian wiggled out from under Robin’s grasp as she processed this new information. She would never hurt him, of course, but he preferred to be out of her line of attack just in case.

“Are you FUCKING KIDDING ME, PIERRE?!”

Ducking behind a shelf, Sebastian covered his ears and smiled to himself as his mother unleashed her fury. Normally he didn’t like the attention, but he hated Pierre, even as a kid. 

“You know, yelling at me isn’t really showing your son how to beh-”

“I WILL KICK YOUR ASS, PIERRE, DON’T TEST ME.”

He listened to Robin go off for a while longer before he realized that he was not the only one behind the shelf. Abby was beside him, looking up at him in wonder. He gave her a look that clearly demanded explanation.

“It’s really cool that your mom is yelling at my dad,” she said. “I don’t know why he won’t let me invite you to my party. I wanted to, I promise. Will you come?”

Sebastian would, today, describe it as a moment of weakness that led him to saying yes, but truly, it was the look on Abby’s face. She was so genuine and earnest about asking him to her party that he couldn’t help it. He’d now call it a fifteen year old mistake as a joke, but he knew that’s all it was. He and Abby (and Sam, of course) became inseparable that day.

He looked over the invitation his mother handed him. He knew just by holding it that it was from Olivia. Her sweet scent drifted off the paper. He must have looked lost in thought, because Robin’s snicker broke him out of it, but in a rare moment of mercy, she said nothing. 

He opened it carefully, wanting to save it as much as possible for later. Inside was a flowery card with the words, “you’re invited!” emblazoned in silver across the front. The inside confirmed his suspicions - Olivia was having a Spirit’s Eve party the night before the town event. 

“She’s having a house party for Spirit’s Eve,” he explained to his mother, who was trying to take a peek. He angled it so she could see it.

Robin raised an eyebrow. “Oh, so we just call her ‘she’ now? No need for introduction when you’ve been thinking about her all day, eh?”

Sebastian could feel his face heat up. “Mom!” he cried. “I just… thought you would have recognized the handwriting and known who I was talking about…”

“Oh, of course, honey,” she replied, snickering again. “I do recognize it, that actually is true, I swear she’s got the biggest handwriting I’ve ever seen. Damn near takes up the whole page when she needs to sign a document. Anyway, are you going?”

“To the party? Well, yeah, I guess, if Sam and Abby are going.”

Robin leaned in, her elbows thunking on the counter. “What are you going to dress up as?”

“Huh?”

“It’s a Spirit’s Eve party, Sebby, you’re going to need to dress up. Obviously.”

He hadn’t considered that. The last time he’d actually had a costume for the day was longer ago than he could remember. He started getting embarrassed by the stupid costume parades they had to do in school for the other classes and just stopped dressing up after an older kid laughed at his vampire costume. He cringed at the memory.

“I don’t think I’m going to dress up.”

Robin sighed. “Honey, you  _ have _ to dress up. You know what? Just put on some slacks and a lab coat and say you’re Demetrius. I’m sure he’d lend you some lab glasses.”

“He’s got too much hair to dress up as me. And, honey, he’s  _ much _ too cool, right, buddy?”

The man himself had entered the shop. Sebastian stifled a groan at the sight of his step father, holding a steaming cup of coffee, wearing a stupid grin on his face. He offered the mug to Robin, who snatched it with a happy coo. 

“Maybe Maru can dress up as me for Spirit’s Eve,” he continued. “That dork already has all the stuff she needs. You looking for an easy costume, champ?” 

Sebastian shrugged, half concentrating on formulating some sort of escape plan to get away from Demetrius so he could be alone with Olivia’s invitation. “Guess so.”

“Could be one of them band guys,” Demetrius said, obviously not sensing that the younger man didn’t want his advice. “You know -” He began to gesture wildly around his head, “with the hair!”

Robin, completely oblivious as always to her son’s discomfort, giggled. “I bet you could talk Sam into doing it too, he wouldn’t even need to wear a wig!”

The two of them continued their insufferable back and forth. Sebastian was able to slip back downstairs without either of them even taking a breath. He closed the door to his room behind him quietly, thankful after a few breaths that they weren’t following him.

He held the invitation close to his face, inhaled the scent lingering on it deeply. It wasn’t as good as her, obviously, but the hints of sandalwood on the paper went straight to his head. He slid down to the floor along the door, content and feeling light headed at the thought of her.

He wondered what she would wear to the party. Was it actually a costume party? Or would he look like a tool showing up in a costume when everyone else was dressed like normal people? He couldn’t take a chance like that, no way.

**Hey. Thanks for the party invite, I’ll be there. Is it a costume party or a regular party?**

He sent the text without thinking. Normally, that was really the only way to guarantee that he wouldn’t chicken out of sending it. When he thought too much about it, he ended up throwing his phone and not texting her at all.

_ I’m so excited you’ll be there! It’s going to be fun.  _

_ What kind of psycho throws a regular party right before Spirit’s Eve? Of course it’s a costume party! No kids allowed here ;) _

...What was that supposed to mean?

_ Bring snacks too, pls _

He chuckled at the last text coming in, but didn’t want the conversation to end. There was always something weirdly special that he couldn’t explain about getting texts from Olivia. Their own little private conversations that couldn’t be interrupted. 

**What kind of snacks?**

Barely a minute went by before he got his reply.

_ CHOCOLATE PLS _

_ Sorry, was chasing my cat lol didn’t mean to yell. You can bring whatever you want but ya, I want chocolate. Was kinda hoping I wouldn’t have to see Pierre again before the end of the season, he won’t shut up about stocking up on next year’s seeds _

**Don’t seeds go bad after that long?**

_ Even if they do, you couldn’t convince Pierre with my open wallet so close to his slimy little fingers lol _

_...Actually, can you ask Maru about the seed thing? I do have a spring stock and now I’m paranoid :( _

Of course he was going to ask Maru about the seeds. Naturally, he would do anything for her. Just… not right now. 

He had a costume to plan. Olivia said she was excited to see him at her party. And who was he to let her down?

*~*

The night of the party, Sebastian had such bad jitters that he had to leave the house and try to trick his body into believing he was heading down to the farm three hours early. He smoked himself through an entire box of cigarettes by the lake, trying to control his thoughts about what Olivia was going to wear.

He, Abby and Sam had talked about it the day before while trying to finish Abby’s costume. She desperately wanted to finally finish the mage costume she’d been working on on and off for the past three years, but the boys just seemed to make it worse. In the end she decided on rabbit ears and a truly horrifying fake nose.

“Liv won’t tell me what she’s dressing up as,” Abby said from inside her closet as she rooted around for a matching outfit. “I wanted to do a matching costume but she just laughed at me.”

Sebastian had to wonder exactly what Abby wanted to match, but decided not to ask. He knew he would end up saying something stupid, maybe call Abby a troll compared to Olivia. At the mention of her name, he only had one brain cell to spare to keep his propriety in check. The rest would all be focused on remembering the swing of her hips, the purse of her lips…

He had to shake his head to focus on his friends. 

“My mom dug out an old costume of my dad’s,” Sam said. “Three guesses what it is. I’ll give you a hint, it’s not his military uniform.”

“Dude, we need more detail than that. It could be literally anything.” Sebastian cocked his head. 

Abby giggled. “Except a military guy.”

“Okay, okay.” Sam threw his hands up defensively. “Better hint. It’s… uh… supposed to be funny.”

Sebastian thought for a moment, and then a horrifying thought crossed his mind.

“Please tell me it’s not a fucking clown, man.”

Sam closed his eyes, inhaled deeply though his nose, finger held up for suspense. Sebastian and Abby watched him intently, now deeply invested on what Jodi had dug up. Then, in a dramatic voice, he replied, “it’s a clown.”

Sebastian immediately gagged, and Abby shrieked, throwing a bean bag pillow from the back of her closet at Sam. “Shut up!”

“Dude.” Sebastian shook his head. Abby began to giggle uncontrollably. “What are your parents doing with a clown costume, and why did your mom think it would be okay to wear to a  _ party _ ?”

“Oh, my God, what if it’s, like a sex thing?!”

Scandalized, Sam gasped. “Abigail Marie! It is  _ not _ a sex thing. At least, I hope it isn’t. It comes with a red nose and my mom even has the face paint for it.”

“No fucking way,” Abby said through her fingers, her hand clapped loudly over her mouth. “Please,  _ please _ tell me you’re wearing that to the party. Please, Sam. I will literally pay to see you dressed up in your dad’s clown costume.”

“A  _ sexy _ clown, apparently,” Sebastian put in, fanning his face. “A… romantic jester, if you will.”

Abby’s giggles got the best of her and she collapsed on the floor of her closet, out of breath and red faced. 

Her mage costume was lost, but the thought of Sam in a clown suit got Sebastian through the next day, though it definitely wasn’t helping now. Even the revolting idea of what might have once been some kind of sexy clown costume couldn’t stop him from thinking about Olivia.

He put out his last cigarette, stuffing the empty packet back into his jacket pocket, and checked his watch again. He still had three hours left before the party started. He groaned. His leg had started to bounce again. He had no idea how he was going to stay occupied for three more hours.

He decided to go for a walk, but that just ended up with him pacing the length of the lake a few times. By his third round, his legs hurt and he was tired.

Good.

Two hours left.

He texted Sam. He texted Abby. He even texted Penny. None of them answered fast enough for him.

He wanted to throw his phone in the lake.

Which was a strange thought for him. He wasn’t really an impulsive person. He backed away from the lake just in case and went back inside. Robin, from the counter, greeted him, but he barely heard it as he walked back downstairs in a trance.

He decided to put his costume on. 

It had seemed like a good idea when he put it together, but looking at it now, so close to seeing her, he felt stupid. Childish. It had taken a lot of time to decide on what he would go as, and in the end, he’d picked it from a hat after doing countless internet searches on what to wear to the love of your life’s costume party.

He hated it.

But he had nothing else to wear, so he decided to just walk away from the mirror before he could think about it anymore. 

One hour, fifty minutes left.

If he walked really slow, he could make it there only a little bit early. Probably. But how slow would he have to walk to not get there too fast? 

What if he just showed up? Early or not? What was Olivia going to do, make him leave?

No. She wouldn’t do that.

So he left, making sure to grab his snack contribution on the way out, crinkling the bag the whole way up the stairs.

*~*

Somehow, it only took him ten minutes to get to Olivia’s. Normally, the walk was at least twenty, at a brisk pace, but apparently Sebastian learned partial teleportation on the way over and made it there in record time. 

No one else was there, but the farm house had been decorated to the nines for Spirit’s Eve. The setting sun was a perfect backdrop for Olivia’s masterpiece. Each step up to the house had a uniquely carved pumpkin, lit up with a candle inside each one. She’d draped cobwebs along the railings and under her windows. The window to the kitchen was boarded up. On the lawn, before her crop fields, she’d put up scarecrows, giant spiders, skeleton and ghost figurines, some of which even moved. She had a fog machine going near the door, flung open and set with orange and black garland hanging down, blowing in the evening breeze. 

He was impressed, truly. She clearly loved Spirit’s Eve.

He approached the house. He was an hour and thirty eight minutes early, but he didn’t care. He had to see her. Even in his stupid costume. He took a deep breath and walked through the garland.

The house was decorated just as elaborately as the yard. Olivia had pushed most of her furniture off to the side, tables laden with snacks and a makeshift DJ station with her phone already plugged in and playing music he didn’t recognize. Though the regular lights were still on, Sebastian could see a decent light set up off to the side near her TV. 

He deposited the bag of chocolate eyeballs on the snack table as quietly as possible, not sure where Olivia was. He was afraid she’d pop out and scare him and then make fun of his costume. 

He had to squeeze his eyes shut tightly for a moment to quash the creeping doubt crawling up through his body, reminding himself that she would probably like it no matter what. Because she was an angel. And he loved her. 

The song changed to something upbeat and from her bedroom, Sebastian could hear Olivia say, “fuck yesssssssssssss.”

And then she started singing along once the intro had ended. 

She was truly terrible. Off key, mixing up words, but Sebastian was rooted to the spot, unable to listen to anything else.

“...LIKE THE TICKLE OF THE BUDDIE… BUBBLES IN A BOTTLE… NUH-NUH… CHAMPAGNE…”

She was probably the worst singer he’d ever heard. But he couldn’t get enough.

“...HEAD DOWN TO MY FEET… wait, no, she said heels. Fuck. Feet doesn’t fucking rhyme with feels.”

And then he couldn’t help himself. He needed her to know he was there. So he called out, “you’ll get it someday!”

As soon as the words left his mouth, he regretted it. Felt like an idiot. She paused the music without saying anything and came out of her room with a surprised look on her face.

When he saw her, he nearly threw up his overworked, pounding heart.

He had absolutely no idea what her costume was supposed to be, but he realized now what she meant by “no kids” just by what she was wearing.

It was hardly more than lingerie; a black leather bustier with matching high waisted bottoms, stockings hiked up as far as they could go, and some kind of weird skirt-belt draped around her waist, the material black and sheer, dragging on the floor. The belt itself was adorned in jewels. Her makeup was done, and it looked like she was working on her hair, but Sebastian decided in that moment that she was perfect. 

“Oh, hey Seb!” she said, realizing the source of the noise. She grinned at him. “You’re early.”

He shrugged, trying to seem casual. “Thought I’d come up and see if you wanted any help.”

“Oh, you’re sweet. And look at your costume! I love it! I don’t think I’ve ever seen you with bare arms, but it totally works.”

He breathed a tiny sigh of relief. He knew that his costume was a huge leap of faith for a basement-dwelling goblin man, but he could tell she was behind honest. “Sexy Sailor” had been low on his list, but he was glad for it now. Especially since he’d had the sleeveless top and long pants for a more modest version instead of some kind of gross speedo.

She looked at him for a second too long and he felt his face heating up. Mercifully, she turned back to her room. 

“I’m just finishing up my costume,” she called to him. “I think I’ve got everything, but you can make a playlist if you want! I tried to use spooky songs but… there are only so many times I can listen to Monster Mash before I lose my mind.”

He laughed, feeling more relaxed than before and settling down on her couch, pulling out his phone to make a playlist of music that he didn’t actually listen to in an effort to keep his weird taste away from her. He figured his usual fodder wouldn’t make for a very good party.

“So, what’s your costume?” he asked, desperate to listen to her talk again. 

He could hear her giggle. “I don’t actually know. I have a cute witch costume for the town party, but I didn’t want to wear it twice. So I Googled how to make a costume out of things you already own, and literally all the articles are about sexy costumes, of course, so this is what I got. I am very glad your mom fixed my heating.”

“Yeah, it looks a little chilly. Especially with the front door open.”

Their idle chatter continued, to his immense satisfaction. She came out of her room to stand in the doorway a few times, and he could have sworn that the look she was giving him each time was almost… wistful. 

Half an hour before the party was set to begin, she emerged fully and stood before him, doing a twirl in place, lifting up the corners of the fabric of her skirt-belt.

“What do you think?” she asked, twirling again for emphasis. “Not bad for literally three seconds of thought, eh?”

He had to swallow a lump in his throat, his mouth suddenly dry. “It’s… really pretty.”

She stopped twirling, looked down at him on the couch with a coy look on her face, her bottom lip jutting out almost offensively. 

“Just pretty?”

“I mean… I  _ did _ say really pretty.”

She let out a giggle that sounded too lewd for Sebastian not to clench his fist under his leg in self control. He hoped she wouldn’t notice, but nothing got away from her.

She sank down to him, knee planted beside him on the couch, the rest of her body landing squarely on his. Her arms wrapped around his shoulders, pulled him close to her body. She was wearing a different perfume; vanilla, honey, just as intoxicating as the ones he was more familiar with. 

Since she had first come out and twirled for him, his body had responded very visibly and when she brushed up against the beginnings of a tent in his pants, she cooed. 

“You can tell me what you’re thinking,” she said in his ear. “I think I’d like to hear it.”

Sebastian couldn’t speak. Her weight on his lap was destroying brain cells by the second. Brain cells with any shred of intelligence within them, anyway. The ones that were left made haste down his body, between his legs.

But instead of being discouraged, this seemed to just egg her on. She giggled again, hoisted herself up slightly. He groaned at the loss of her body on his lap, but the sound was quickly stifled by her breasts in his face. 

A fair trade, he supposed.

She reached an arm back, but right before it came into contact with anything, they heard voices coming up the walkway to her farm. She gave him a smirk, climbed off him at lightning speed, and brushed herself off once she was upright again.

“You might wanna…” she looked him up and down, the smirk turning smug and self satisfied. “... air yourself out, Sebby.”

He couldn’t have agreed more. The last thing he needed was for someone to walk in and see him in his current state. He wasn't sure what would be most shocking - his flushed, red, sweaty face, or the giant tent in his pants. 

He snuck out the back door just as Leah and Elliott arrived, Olivia greeting them loudly and Leah screeching on about the revealing costume her friend was wearing. Sebastian was grateful he could get away from the house before hearing whatever flowery bullshit came from Elliott’s mouth, too.

He wandered back up to the path that had brought him to the farm - he would be less likely to run into anyone. Maru was at Penny’s, getting ready for the party together, so he was alone with his thoughts.

Which, for someone trying to get rid of an erection so he could go to a party, was a bad idea. He just kept thinking of Olivia and her skimpy, skintight costume and her sultry fashion show. 

Did she realize what she did to him? How easily she could short circuit his brain with just one look from her? She had seen the effect she had on him by now, surely, so now… what was she doing? 

He was puzzled. It played out like something from one of his lewd dreams, but it was so real… her touch electrified his skin, set his body on fire. There was no way it could be a dream when it felt like that.

Shaking his head to clear his confusing thoughts, he headed back to the party, desperately wishing he had saved a cigarette from earlier. He may have thought he needed them back then, but he mentally kicked himself every time he took a step for not even just saving half of one for right now, when he  _ actually _ needed one.

Back on the farm and sufficiently aired out, he re-entered the party.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's a quick one for you! I cut it off where I did because I realized that I super do not want to write the party, and I might not end up writing it at all, but I didn't want to keep an update from you. There isn't much here but I really enjoyed writing it regardless :)
> 
> Thank you for reading, as always! If you're reading this and it's still 2020, happy new year!!! I am grateful for all the wonderful things you've said about this story and I'm so glad I'm in this fandom. You're all angels. I'm writing out of my comfort zone with this story, and the positive feedback really keeps me going. xoxoxo


	6. Chapter 6

The rest of Olivia’s party was uneventful, as was the town celebration of Spirit’s Eve the night after. She brought her friend’s son Riley, from the Fair, to the party in the town square, so Sebastian didn’t get a chance to talk to her. 

The cold winds of winter blew through the town that night, covering the Valley in a soft blanket of fluffy snow. Maru wasted no time making scant little snowmen in the dusting the first day, and the yard quickly became more and more full of them as more snow fell.

Sebastian liked the winter. He liked the peaceful stillness of the cold winter nights the best. Sometimes he would steal out when everyone else was sleeping, make tracks in the fresh snow and then lay there, watching the steam from his breath rise and dissipate into the air within seconds of his exhale, listening to the quiet winter creatures all around him. He liked to lay there until his clothes soaked through and chilled him to the bone. 

He woke up late on his birthday, having worked well into the early hours of the morning on a big project that he wanted finished by the end of the year. Robin barged in just after noon with a heaping pile of pancakes.

“Good morning, honey!” she trilled, clanging around loudly and turning on what seemed like every light in the valley. “Happy birthday to my first born baby!”

He groaned, shielding his eyes. “I’m not a baby, mom.”

“Sure you are,” she cooed. She dropped the plate down on his lap and sat on the edge of his bed, reaching over and smoothing his hair like she used to when he was a kid. “Just because you’re twenty-seven today doesn’t mean that you aren’t still a baby. You’ll always be my baby.”

Despite the absence of anyone else in the room, his ears burned with embarrassment. No one could quite make him blush angrily like his mother did. He began to eat to cover up his shame, hands clumsy from sleep.

“You know, I was your age when I had you,” Robin told him, abandoning her hair petting and sitting back on her hands now. “Can you imagine, having a baby already?”

Sebastian shot her the most venomous glare he could muster. “Mom.”

“I’m just saying, Sebby. I don’t mean anything by it. I can’t picture you with a baby anyway, unless it was dressed like a frog or something. Oooh, wouldn’t that be so cute though?”

He let her ramble on about babies in frog outfits for a while longer, silently eating his pancakes. She ran out of steam fairly quickly, to his amusement.

She got up to leave when he finished, taking his plate from him. Before she opened the door, though, she looked back.

“I almost forgot,” she said. “I invited Abby and Sam over for a birthday dinner. I asked Olivia, too, but she hasn’t answered yet. She’s just so busy in the winter, but I don’t know what on Earth she gets up to…”

His ears perked up at the mention of her name, he sat up straighter, paid closer attention. This did not go unnoticed by his mother. She smirked, opening the door.

“I’m sure  _ she’ll _ be here, honey. I don’t think she’d turn up free food.”

*~*

Sam and Abby showed up on time for birthday dinner, just as his mother said they would, but Olivia was nowhere to be seen. Robin still hadn’t heard from her.

Sebastian was far too disappointed to be worried, but Maru certainly made up for it, wringing her hands all through the meal.

“She’s been going into the mines lately,” she fretted, listlessly pushing her spoon around in her pumpkin soup. “I can’t believe she sat through Harvey’s lecture about it and just… did it anyway.”

Abigail didn’t seem to be moved by Maru’s worry. “She’s fine, Maru. She can swing a sword better than anyone I’ve ever met. Except maybe Marlon. And you ever see the haul she brings up? Whoof. Nearly bankrupts my dad every time.”

“What does she find down there?” Sebastian asked curiously. He’d often wondered what was down in the mines, ever since he was a child. No one really ever went down there, save for Clint and Abby, but neither of them ever got very far. 

“Gems, ore, even these crazy buried artefacts,” Abby explained. “She donates a lot of it to the museum. I was there last week, it’s almost full again!”

Sebastian considered this, impressed. The museum had long sat empty, ever since one of the curators took off in the night with the entire collection a few years back. Of course, it had also been a long time since Sebastian had been in there, not liking the uneasy feeling the remaining curator gave him from behind the desk.

Maru sighed. “I still don’t like it. She’s going to give the ol’ Doctor a heart attack if she comes into the clinic with so much as a scrape one more time. You know, she walked right in once, barely able to walk, covered in blood, and she just says, ‘I got bit’. Who does that?!”

Sebastian, Sam and Abby all chuckled, all picturing it. Robin just rolled her eyes. 

All the guests around the table finished their soup and Robin brought out a tall, homemade cake with candles on it. Sebastian groaned as they all began to sing to him. He blew out his candles and cut a piece for himself, hacking away through the soft treat and nearly throwing it on a plate. His mother always made the best cake, and he wanted to enjoy it.

But before he could, a frantic knocking at the door disturbed them all.

At first, it was polite, soft, just a few raps on the door. But it changed quickly to a loud pounding on the wood as Robin frowned, bustling over. She opened it, and they could hear a faint voice on the other side. Sebastian didn’t pay any attention to it until his mother gasped, and said  _ her _ name.

He was up in a flash, nearly knocking his chair over in his haste to reach the door. He missed the looks Sam and Abby traded with each other. If he’d seen it, he’d be suspicious, but all he could see was Linus holding an unconscious Olivia instead.

A flurry of activity swept the house as Robin raced to grab her keys. Sebastian shouldered the woman, along with Maru, and the three of them made record time to the truck, down the mountain and to the clinic without even a second thought.

Maru pounded on the door of the clinic before remembering she could just let herself in with her keys, yelling upstairs to Harvey. 

“Harvey!” she nearly screamed. “Emergency! Emergency! Olivia needs help!”

Sebastian had always thought that Harvey was old, and therefore probably slow, but the Doctor rushed downstairs with a speed similar to their own, wrapping himself tightly in a white coat, covering what appeared to be airplane pajamas. 

“O-oh dear,” Harvey said, bustling over, fixing his glasses. “She went in the mines again, didn’t she?”

Robin nodded. “Linus found her at the entrance, he says that’s where she passed out.”

“I can’t tell you how many times I’ve told this girl not to go into the mines… but does she listen? No, what do I know?”

“Harvey,” Maru said sharply, glaring at him. “Now’s not the time.”

“Oh, of course,” The Doctor said with a flushed face. “Right. If you could just lead her to this empty bed here…”

Between Maru and Sebastian, they gently lifted Olivia over and deposited her onto the bed. Her head lolled off to the side, blood dried and caked over the side of her face. Sebastian’s stomach dropped at the sight. He had to resist the urge to run his hand through her dirt-matted hair or tuck her limp body into the sheets.

“Do you know exactly what happened?” Harvey asked, snapping on some gloves and going from a harried old man, woken up in the early evening, to an ultra-professional doctor in the span of three seconds. “What she may have been attacked by?”

Robin shook her head. “Linus said he didn’t know how far down she had been before she was able to get back up. Could have been anything.”

Harvey pursed his lips, but didn’t speak further. He leaned over her, eyes darting around her body quickly. Despite knowing that the man was just doing his job, Sebastian narrowed his eyes as his heart wrenched with anger and jealousy. He had to stop himself from saying something when Harvey’s hands made contact with Olivia’s skin. It bubbled up like fire in his chest, daring him to reach out and do something about the hands on her body.

But he couldn’t deny that the man was a talented doctor. With Maru seamlessly transitioning into her role as his nurse, they worked quickly to clean Olivia up, patch up her wounds, and hook her up to some IV that Maru assured him was completely necessary, despite his apprehension.

The Olivia he saw now was very different than the one that had been dragged to his door. She could almost be sleeping, peaceful on her own accord. If it weren’t for the bandages on her arm, he would have thought that.

He let out a breath he hadn’t realized he had been holding when Robin brought up the bill. 

“We’re the ones that dragged her here,” she explained. “I’ll cover it.”

But Harvey just waved her off. “Olivia’s been in here so much lately, my bills are paid for a year. No need to pay. I’ll consider this a favour, to a friend in need.”

Sebastian stopped paying attention as his mother tried to insist on paying. One way or another, Harvey would be getting paid. He didn’t need to listen to their conversation to know that.

Instead, he sat on the chair beside Olivia’s bed and just watched her chest rise and fall as she slept, her breathing slightly laboured, but otherwise, good as new. He reached out, grabbed her hand in his, stroking her palm lightly.

He didn’t even notice that any time had passed when Harvey made his way back in. He looked surprised to see Sebastian, but his expression was… off, somehow.

“Never thought I’d see this again…” the doctor said, mostly to himself, but Sebastian caught it. 

“What was that?”

“Hm?” Harvey looked up, adjusted his glasses, shook his head. “Oh, er… nothing. Thinking out loud. Well, everything is in order. If you’d like to stay the night, you’re welcome to one of the spare beds. Not like anyone else is using them.”

Sebastian raised an eyebrow. “Really?”

“I would say it’s nice to wake up from what was probably a very painful experience and see a friendly face waiting for her,” Harvey replied with a shrug. “Goodnight, Sebastian.”

He left, clattering around all the way up the stairs until Sebastian could hear him no longer.

Something was strange about Harvey’s tone, the way he glanced between the two of them. But Sebastian couldn’t place it, nor could he explain why it was strange. It just felt… not right. Like perhaps there was something on the doctor’s mind that unsettled him, but he couldn’t say it. Or perhaps Havey was just weird.

Instead of listening to the suggestion of taking an extra bed, Sebastian carefully moved Olivia to the side of her bed and crawled in next to her. It was a little tight, but the supports on each side of the bed ensured that neither of them would fall, and that he could be pressed as tightly against her as he pleased. 

He nestled in, smiling into her hair and draping a light arm over her. He traced patterns into her blanket-covered torso, aimlessly wishing he could get even closer.

“You scared me,” he told her in a low voice. “But I knew you’d come back to me. You know I’ll always protect you.”

He fell asleep quickly, faster than he’d thought possible, and dreamed of her all night. In the morning, before Harvey awoke, before she could stir, he crept out, but not before leaving a kiss on her forehead, a silent promise to be there for her, any time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a short chapter - I have big plans for the next one and wanted it to be on its own! 
> 
> Also, side note, I am looking for someone to send an idea to regarding this story. I think I have it pretty well laid out, but I would like a second opinion, to make sure it makes sense. I think it's really good!! Please send me a Tumblr message if you'd like to help :) Thank you!!! Feel free to message me there about anything, really! I'd love to hear from you!
> 
> Find me over on [Tumblr!](https://wonder-tweeks.tumblr.com/)
> 
> XOXOXOXO


	7. Chapter 7

The next time Sebastian saw Olivia was at the Night Market.

She was trying to haggle with the mysterious shop keeper at the stall near the rare paintings, the lady with the pig. Clearly, though, her haggling skills were sub-par, as the man looked less than impressed.

“I can do five hundred gold,” she was saying, looking steely eyed and determined. “Maybe six hundred. Best offer.”

“Olivia, you wound me.” The shop keeper had a silky voice, but the undertones were sinister. He closed his hand around the item Olivia wanted before Sebastian could take a look. “I wouldn’t sell this to anyone for under ten thousand gold, and yet I’ve offered it to you for a mere five thousand. And this is how you repay me?”

She looked pained for a moment. “It’s a hat!”

The shop keeper was not moved by her passion. He looked at her down his long hooked nose with a raised eyebrow and an expression of disgust. 

“Let me make you this deal,” he replied slowly. “If I don’t sell this tonight, come back to me tomorrow. I’ll sell it for twenty five hundred, no less! But if you miss out… full price.”

She looked torn for a moment, seemed ready to walk away, but kept going back. “Fine. Deal. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

While the shopkeeper looked pleased, she just stalked off mumbling to herself. Sebastian intercepted her as she made her way to the shop boat on the other side of the dock.

He pretended to be surprised when she noticed him first, calling out to him, her tone a departure from the dark mumblings he’d barely heard.

“Hey, Seb!” she called. He made his way over to her. “Enjoying the market?”

“I just got here,” he replied, stuffing his hands in his pockets to keep them warm. “But it’s nice to get down here on a night like this. You find anything good?”

She sighed. “I found a hat I really liked but the stupid shop keeper wants way too much money for it. I just wanted a hat for when I get a horse…”

“A horse hat?”

“Yeah, Marnie told me all about how you can put hats on your horses.” She laughed. “Apparently they don’t mind. I’ve wanted a horse for a while, anyway, the hat thing just sells me on it even more.”

He couldn’t help the laugh that he let out. He could picture her riding a horse, hair blowing in the wind… maybe they could ride together. He’d have to go slowly, of course, he didn’t think horses could keep up with a motorcycle. Or… he didn’t know. Maybe they could.

She let him hang around as she browsed the shop, then went with her into a submarine that plunged them down into the depths of the ocean. He watched in both horror and amazement as the bottom of the submarine opened up to open ocean, creatures swimming by, and she began to fish, like it was the most normal thing in the world. She caught a few fish before asking for the craft to be brought up.

His ears popped painfully on the way back to the surface, but it was worth it to spend time with her.

He loved to watch her concentrate on reeling in fish. How her brow would furrow, how her hair would fall into her eyes, her tongue sticking out between her lips as she focused. Her hands were strong on the fishing rod - no fish stood a chance. It was quite the spectacle.

She departed the market soon after resurfacing, with a smile and a wave his way. He watched her go, but decided to stay a little longer himself.

He made his way to the boat that housed the dancing mermaid. He didn’t really care much for the mermaid herself, but the light show that accompanied her got better every year. Usually he went with Sam, who paid no attention to anything other than the mermaid, so it was a nice change to be there alone.

The show started soon after he made himself comfortable in one of the lounge chairs in front of the stage. He was glad for this new addition - last year, they’d had to just stand there awkwardly, while he tried not to acknowledge the fact that his friend was about to bust in his pants beside him the whole time (which was another reason he was grateful to be alone - he loved Sam, but the blonde was honestly the last person who’s dick he’d wanted to see).

A spray of lightly scented fog hypnotized him from the beginning - he recognized it. Apple blossom, honey, a hint of chocolate… one of Olivia’s newest perfumes. He breathed it in, let it sink into his skin. 

And then the lights dimmed, curtains parted, and she was there.

Olivia.

He gasped; he’d been expecting a mermaid, the usual beautiful, blue haired woman who had been there every year, but instead, it was  _ her. _

It was Olivia like he’d never seen her. Her reddish hair flowed around her, catching in the light. Her eyes were closed but she held a smile, a serene grin that almost seemed ethereal on her face. Tiny blue jewels dotted around her eyes, drew a line down her chest and stomach. She wore an outfit almost identical to the regular mermaid. Silk seashells covered her breasts, arching into the middle, leaving the centre of her chest exposed. Her mermaid tail was the same beautiful azure as her eyes, fading lighter and lighter until it became lavender at the bottom. 

She seemed suspended in what looked at first like water, but when Sebastian found himself mere inches from the stage, hand reached out in front of him, it was nothing but air. He snatched his hand back, not wanting to get too close for fear of ruining everything.

Olivia waved her hands gracefully over her head, closing her eyes as the music started. He recognized it as the delicate, light melody that accompanied the usual mermaid, but he wasn’t really paying attention to it.

She started swaying, pulling her hips side to side languidly, her arms travelling down her body until they curled outwards to the tune of the song playing behind her. Somehow, despite being encased in a realistic looking mermaid tail, her movements were fluid, natural.

He watched her hands as her fingers flourished with every move she made, stretching her arms out and bringing them back, only to send them back out once more. He watched the jewels on her stomach as she rolled her hips, the gems sparkling with every glint of the light they caught. 

The tempo of the music increased, and she began to spin in lazy twirls, her hair splayed out suspended in the air-water. Tiny sparkles of aquatic animals weaved in and out around her; iridescent seahorses and angelfish creating a mesmerizing current of bubbles that enveloped her until she was nothing more than a blur. 

Her foggy form left him feeling peaceful, a wave of calm lingering in his chest as she watched her. The playful creatures spun around her, threading in the air around her, through her hands and hair, almost tempting him to join. 

His head swam from the perfume in the air, his chest heavy with want, his eyes unfocused on anything but the movement of her hips. Rounding out her twirl brought her back to face him, her eyes open now, fixing him with a lustful stare of doe eyes and full lips.

She mouthed something, but he didn’t know what it was. No sound came from her. But as she did, the lights dimmed further, and all he could see was her outline, covered in pastel-rainbow body paint. Intricate weaves twisted down her arms and legs, colours blending into each other, shimmering despite the absence of light.

Is that how she could move so seamlessly with a tail? Was it body paint the whole time?

Backlights lit up the stage, and he could see more of her now. Still coruscating in the half-darkened room, she began to write around, limbs twisting in ways that shouldn’t be possible for someone who walked on land.

Up and down she went, movements catered to the heavy music now playing in the background, the body paint creating a trail in the dark, turning around, bending down, spreading herself in mid-air…

He was completely hypnotized. Once again, he found himself at the edge of the stage with no recollection of actually getting up and going, but this time, as he reached his hand out,  _ so close _ to the curve of her pink-petal coloured ass, everything shattered, and disappeared.

She was gone.

It was just the regular mermaid, finishing up her show. She was much further away from him than Olivia was, and his hand fell through the empty air with nothing left to grasp for. The realization hit him heavily, and he sank back down in his seat, sighing.

Where did she go? What was she doing up on stage in the first place? 

The mermaid blinked at him expectantly, and he hastily began to clap, despite not really knowing what he was clapping for. She bowed theatrically, and the curtains came down on the stage once more. 

He left the boat and headed straight home, unable to get the image of Olivia out of his head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another short one! I wanted a transition between the last chapter and the absolute bomb I'm going to drop on the next one so here is me just being super accidentally gay for a character I've created lol
> 
> (I promise this serves a purpose other than me just writing about beautiful women)


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Please note that this is like 80% smut!!! It has not yet been edited if you're seeing this so if it's bad, I will fix it eventually, I just have a weird thing where I can't look at the smut I just wrote until at least a day later oopsie

He was at the farm house.

The night before, on the final appearance of the Night Market, he’d found her skulking around the hat seller’s stall, upset that she hadn’t bought the hat she’d had her eye on. He was there of his own accord, actually - Maru had gone the previous two nights, and he wanted to buy her a display painting. The last night was his only chance.

When Olivia spotted him, she smiled a soft smile at him that made his heart explode in his chest. 

“That’s so sweet,” she’d said as he counted out his coin for the merchant. “She’s going to love this.”

She helped him haul the painting off the dock, up the beach and all the way to the mountaintop home. “She’s wanted one of these forever. She’s not really big on art usually, but this one has the futuristic vibe I know she loves.”

Olivia hummed in agreement. They’d reached the house by now. She drew in the side of her lip to her teeth, chewed on it thoughtfully for a moment, watching him silently open the garage door and place the painting inside.

“Are you busy tomorrow night?” she asked him slowly. He paused, his heart stuttering in his chest, then shook his head. “Do you want to come over for dinner?”

He was stunned. He’d agreed, eventually, once he was able to speak again, and now here he was, at her table, watching her put the finishing touches on their meals for the night. 

“I’m not  _ really _ much of a cook,” she said, balancing two plates in her hands, cutlery tucked in the crook of one of her arms. “Evelyn sent me this recipe in the mail a few days ago. All the produce is fresh!”

For not being much of a cook, the meal looked delicious. Sebastian was used to either his mother’s straight-forward cooking, Demetrius’s attempts at cooking, or frozen dinners at three in the morning. But the dish he was being served now looked elaborate; fresh pasta with tomato sauce, perfect squares of butternut squash, crisp mushrooms, and what appeared to be baked bread crumbs sprinkled over top. His mouth watered as she set his fork down beside his plate. After setting her own plate down, she fetched a glass bottle of a sweet looking pink liquid and poured two glasses, setting those down as well.

“Fresh melon lemonade,” she explained. “Just made it yesterday. Ever since I restored that old greenhouse, everything’s been so fresh!”

His eyes followed her as she seated herself. She smiled. They began to eat. The food was as good as it looked - yet another point in her favour.

She looked so cute now that she was settled in her seat across from him. He was glad that they’d taken a casual approach to the night, both in warm sweaters and jeans. But somehow, she managed to look impossibly elegant, her neckline skimming just underneath her chin, hair pulled back in a neat ponytail, and dangly gold earrings framing her face.

He just  _ knew _ that she’d probably kill him if she ever dressed up in something fancy. He almost dreaded the Flower Dance in the spring for fear of how beautiful she would be. 

“Are you excited for Winter Star?” she asked, her mouth full. Normally, it would have grossed him out, but somehow, it was charming when she did it. Even if she did get a whole piece of squash on the table. He gave her a soft smile.

“I guess. The feast is usually cold, but the food makes up for it.”

She hummed in agreement, stuffing another full fork of linguini in her mouth. Sauce stained the corner of her mouth until she wiped it off with a napkin, a gesture that was much more refined and dainty than the way she ate. 

He wanted to ask her who she got for the gift giving event, but some people took it much more seriously than he did. Olivia struck him as this type of person. He hoped it was him.

“Do you still give gifts to your family?” she asked, taking a sip from her glass. “Or just your secret person? I always got stuff for my parents, but not my sister. I get gifts for Riley, too, obviously. Kids are fun to buy for.”

He shrugged, finishing his mouthful before answering. “I always get one for Maru. Sometimes my mom, but she’s so weird about getting gifts. And I think I’ve only ever given Demetrius a gift once. He acted like it was the single greatest act of charity the universe had ever seen, and I never did it again.”

“Do you guys not get along?”

This wasn’t exactly the type of conversation he liked having, but he could tell she was genuinely interested in what he had to say. Even if it was just about his step-father.

“I… guess.” He paused to think for a moment. “I complain about him, a lot. But he’s a good guy, really. I know he tries, but he can’t seem to get around the fact that I’m not actually his kid. He just sometimes thinks I’m some sort of colossal disappointment.”

She frowned in response. “I don’t think you’re a disappointment.”

“Well, I try my best not to be. And it works, sometimes.”

“What about…” She chewed her bottom lip thoughtfully. “What about  _ your _ dad?”

Sebastian was taken aback. No one had ever really asked about his dad before. He didn’t think Sam and Abby even knew what happened. Most people just assumed that his father had left Robin, left him. 

Olivia seemed to misinterpret his hesitation. “I-I’m sorry, Seb, if you don’t want to talk about it, you don’t have to.”

“No, it’s fine.” He shook his head and set his fork down on his now empty plate. And it was fine. He was actually glad she was asking. “It’s not, like, the sob story that everyone assumes it is. I actually never knew my dad. Well, I guess technically I did. I was a year old when he died.”

It was now Olivia’s turn to look surprised. “Sebastian. That is sad. Normal people would think that’s sad.”

“It’s been so long, I don’t even think about it anymore.”

“Still…” she trailed off, looking down at her plate. “Im sorry, Seb. I don’t know what I’d do without my dad.”

He shrugged again, and the topic died off. He thanked her for the meal as she cleared their plates. She beamed at him. His heart skipped a few times at the sight of it. 

He didn’t know what to do with himself as she washed their dishes. He’d asked if she needed help, but she waved him off and assured him it would only be a minute. So he just watched the gentle sway of her ass as she scrubbed. When she was finished, she came out with two cookies and he had to pretend he wasn’t checking her out the entire time, but was sure that the flush on his face gave him away.

“Do you want to stay for a bit?” she asked, gesturing with her cookie at the television and the couch, moved back to their original spots from her Spirit’s Eve party. “We can watch a movie or something.”

He nodded, wanting nothing more, and got up from his seat to follow her. He sat on the couch first, and she sank down beside him once she’d retrieved the remote. She was  _ so _ close. The heat from her legs practically burned his skin through both their jeans. Now that there wasn’t food in front of them, her floral scent made its way into his brain. Something he couldn’t quite place, something new. His breath hitched as he breathed her in deeply.

She turned on a movie that he pretended to be interested in, just because she said she wanted to watch it. He didn’t really like movies very much, but he vowed to watch just enough of it to spark conversation with her later.

Only five minutes into the movie, Sebastian began to notice her hand on his knee. At first, it was just her fingers, playing with the denim, ghosting over him, but eventually, it led to her whole palm flat against the curve of his leg. She wasn’t looking at him, just straight ahead, seemingly engrossed in the pointless drama that had already been presented on the screen.

He swallowed a large knot in his throat, willing himself to stay still and not start shaking or sweating or anything. 

His will collapsed when her hand began to drift further up his leg, slowly, agonizingly. It almost seemed as if she wasn’t noticing herself doing it, but he swore he saw her smirk at some point out of the corner of his eye. His heart began to beat faster and faster at the contact, and he was sure she heard.

When she shifted herself even closer to him, sending her hand to the inside of his thigh, he was sure he stopped breathing entirely for longer than was probably safe. His face burned, and he was sure he was about to start dripping sweat all over her at any second.

She’d moved so that if he turned his head to the side, and she looked over as well, they’d be face to face. He wondered if she planned that. Wondered if she knew what she was going to him, just by being this close.

Her hand kept creeping up. He hoped that she hadn’t looked down recently. His pants were feeling  _ very  _ uncomfortable, to the point where he couldn’t even try to hide it or explain it away somehow. But if her hand kept going, she’d notice it one way or another.

And then, just as she was about to reach his clothed erection, she withdrew her hand. And then he  _ whined. _

At that moment, he knew he was fucked. She definitely heard it. She knew what she was doing. When she spoke, he could just  _ hear _ the smug smirk in her voice.

“Is everything alright, Sebastian?” she asked. In his peripherals, he could see that she was looking up at him with an overly innocent pout on her face. 

He cleared his throat. “I’m fine.”

A little surprised that he managed to get that much out, he cleared his throat again, his eyes trained straight ahead. 

“Just fine?”

He swallowed hard once more. “Yup.”

When she spoke next, her voice was right at his ear, her breath tickling his cheek. 

“I’m glad.”

And then he couldn’t contain himself anymore.

He felt like he left his body as he twisted himself to her, propped up on her arms, her knees brought up underneath her. In a second, he was on her, his arms sliding under hers to bring her to rest on the arm of the couch. He nudged her legs apart with his, slotting himself in between them, lightly resting himself on her, tucking one of his legs under hers for balance.

And with their faces mere inches apart, with her lips parted, eyes lidded and heavy with lust, she said, “took you long enough.”

Her hands shot out, grabbed him by the collar, and pulled him down, their lips smashing together hard. She was soft, her lips pillowy and silky under his. He let out a groan that had bubbled from deep in his chest, and she responded by pulling him harder against her. 

He realized, as their lips moved together loudly, that this was the first time he’d actually kissed her. Even in his dreams it had seemed like an unobtainable thing, yet here he was. He didn’t take it lightly, greedily coaxing more and more from her with every movement of his mouth.

Before long, she began to grind her hips against him, like they were teenagers, stealing a secret moment together before anyone noticed. The friction shot electricity through his entire body, and his eyes flew open, disconnecting from her. 

She stared back up at him, her kiss-bruised lips plush and red from his mouth, her expression hazy, devious. He watched her raise an eyebrow as she did it again, rolling longer and harder. He had to grip the back of the couch to keep his balance, otherwise, he would have let go into the feeling and probably fallen onto the floor.

“There’s… not a lot of room…” he said as her lips found his neck, trailing softly down. “Can we…?”

Despite the fact that he couldn’t finish his thought, she understood what he meant. “Yeah.”

Without even turning the movie off, she slipped out from under him, springing up onto her feet, offering her hand to him and pulling him up off the couch as well. In one fluid motion once he was on his feet as well, she pulled him to her, displacing her slightly with the weight of his body. Her lips found his once more, and she began to push him backwards in the direction of her room.

It was clumsy, but they made it through her open bedroom door, and at the last second, he turned her to push her onto the bed. She grinned at him, her expression almost predatory, as she hiked her legs up and locked them around him to pull him on top of her once more.

Adjusting themselves through the slight awkwardness of their initial positions, they found themselves up against the pillows, lips tangled once more. Olivia’s shirt hiked up slightly as she sank down, and Sebastian wasted no time in bringing his palm to the exposed skin, feeling a sudden rush of confidence, spurred on by the fact that he was seeing her body in eyes that didn’t belong in a dream. 

He could hear her breath hitch as he made contact with her stomach, her heart stuttering in her chest as it echoed under his hand on his way further up. It encouraged him further, his thumb ghosting it’s way up her breast, until he reached his destination. His index finger joined his thumb on her nipple, giving it a light squeeze, eliciting a gasp from her, a sound swallowed up by his mouth.

Her hands found their way up the back of his neck, fisting his hair in one and cupping his face in the other. Her kisses turned to soft nips, culminating in her teeth scraping against his as she bit down on his lip, letting it drag away from his mouth before she released it from her teeth, sucking it back into her mouth and kissing him once more.

Almost as though she were possessed, she flipped them both over so she was sitting on top of him, straddling his thigh, reminiscent of the first hyper-realistic dream he had about her. In fact, he almost thought he was dreaming again, until she leaned down, her ponytail tickling his face, and began to place soft, feather-light kisses down the side of his neck.

He began to feel hot. Almost unbearably hot. The heat had kicked on at some point, and while he hadn’t noticed it then, he definitely noticed it now. Beads of sweat were beginning to form on his forehead and the back of his neck. Not exactly sexy.

“Olivia,” he murmured into her ear. She didn’t acknowledge him, and continued pressing kisses to him, her hands wandering his face now. He tried again, louder. “Olivia.”

“Hmm?” Her lips hummed on his skin, making him shiver despite the heat pressing down through the air onto him. She leaned back, propelled by the balls of her feet dug into the mattress, brushing her body closer and closer to the tent in his pants. He had to force himself not to react to her proximity. 

He waited until her eyes were on his. “Do you find it… warm in here?”

“Sebastian.” she chided, blinking a few times in surprise at his question. “You’re wearing a god damn wool sweater, of  _ course _ it’s warm in here.”

He laughed nervously, seeing that he’d walked himself into this. “I see your point. I don’t wanna slow down.”

“So take off the sweater.”

Her voice was commanding enough to give him a jolt, a spark of shock crossing through his body at how authoritative she sounded. She raised an eyebrow, her face otherwise completely serious. So, of course, he took the sweater off, brushing up against her as he did so. She sucked her cheeks into her teeth as she gave him a wry smile.

“Better?”

“Y-yeah.”

“Good. I think it is too.”

And then her hands were on him, her permanently tanned fingers brushing over his pale chest, nails digging in at random, pushing him back down against the pillows roughly. The air was definitely cooler on his skin now, but every time she touched him, the flesh under her hand burned white-hot anyway.

Definitely an improvement, though. 

She leaned down again and kissed him once more, but surprised him with her gentleness this time. Her lips barely even ghosted his for a second before they pressed down lightly, and he heard her suck in a breath through her nose as both of her hands abandoned his chest and came to rest on either sides of his cheeks, holding them there, as if she were afraid he would leave.

Like he’d ever dream of leaving. 

To reassure her, he wound his arms tightly against her back, pulling her down towards him more, to tell her how much he wanted this. To show her. Her surprising tenderness was in contrast to her earlier demeanour, but it kept him on his toes. Made him want  _ more. _

And he got more. Her tongue slipped into his mouth, eagerly finding his, and they both moved at the same time to bring their already impossibly close bodies even closer together. He tried to take a page out of her book and flip her himself so she was the one on her back once again, but she was too strong, her body too solid, and they ended up laying side by side, her legs slung over his.

Which, he realized as she ground herself against him, wasn’t the worst thing that could have happened. Having them both on the same level gave them both the advantage of being able to take control at any moment, with the added benefit of keeping her hair out of his face.

His hand slid back up under her shirt, and he had just started playing with the edges of her bra when she separated their mouths, and in one fluid motion, took the whole shirt off, and even her bra. Her breasts bounced out in freedom, and he stared at them, transfixed.

She smirked, taking his hand back in hers and moving it to the exposed breast facing upwards, pushing down on his fingers as she let go of his hand to force him to squeeze. She hummed again, her face flushing.

_ Beautiful. _

He met her eyes again, and tried to kiss her once more, but his lips only brushed hers before she grinned wider and pulled away just enough for him to meet air. She dipped her head in again to do it again, moving her head at just the right moment. 

He was frustrated for a short moment, but then realized that she was just teasing him. He grinned back, and used the momentum of her pulling away from him to push her back, her shoulders hitting the headboard. Before she could say anything, he nimbly climbed on top of her, victorious.

“Guess you got me,” she said, her voice low and husky. It shot through his body like she’d given him an electric shock. He responded by lowering himself to cup both of her breasts, one in each hand, not breaking eye contact as he shot his tongue out to her nipple. She hissed in response, bucking herself up into him. 

She made more noise in real life than she did in his dreams, letting out little gasps and groans each time he touched a new part of her skin. It was intoxicating; each sound escaping her lips meandered through his mind, giving him goosebumps and kicking him into high gear to get more out of her each time.

She writhed underneath him incessantly, and soon he found himself unbuttoning his own pants and unzipping them just to feel some relief from the strain she caused. She smirked as she watched him loop his fingers through the button, and pushed the pants down with her knees as soon as he’d finished with the zipper. 

He arched his eyebrow at her, and she giggled. “I like it better this way.”

As if to emphasize her point, she abandoned her quest to pull down his pants and drew herself up, pushing him back as her hands ran up and down the newly exposed leg slowly, always stopping just below the hem of his underwear. He shivered. 

The involuntary action was enough to embolden her enough to run her hand further up, landing squarely on his clothed cock and giving it a light squeeze, smirking once more as a loud moan escaped him. 

His teeth ground together hard as she began to play with him. “Olivia,” he ground out. “Y-you…”

“Oh, sorry,” she said, when he couldn’t finish his thought or sentence. “This is in the way. Let me just…”

And with that, the clothing between her hand and his dick came down to meet his pants, pooling around his knees. She looked pleased with herself as she watched it spring out into the now cooled-down air. 

“Mm,” she commented. “That’s gotta be better now, right? Your jeans are always so tight, I sometimes wonder how you even fit this thing in them...” 

As she spoke, her hand wandered its way back, and he fell forward onto her with a sharp gasp when her fingers wound around his bare cock. With her free hand, she grabbed his chin roughly and turned his face to hers, staring up at him intensely as she began to stroke.

When she brought his face down further to kiss him again, he nearly melted, feeling ready to go boneless at the constant stimulation. This was far from the first time he’d been in this situation with someone, but her lips, her hands, her body… they were all so soft, just for him. And he relished in the feeling.

It took him a moment - though it felt like a century - for him to be able to move his arms and hands again, but when he could, they went straight for her pants, unbuttoning them with more difficulty than he’d had with his own, but working through it with determination. 

He barely took notice of the cute flowery lacy thing she had on under her pants before her fingers ghosted over his tip where he was most sensitive and his body kicked into overdrive,  _ needing _ to see more of her, practically tearing everything in his way off her as he panted into her open mouth. 

And still, she wore that smug look on her face, he could feel it as his lips glazed over hers.

They paused for a moment to rid themselves of their bottoms, now free to move about more, and Olivia wasted no time in resuming her ministrations, her mouth finding its way back to his. 

As she stroked up and down his length, he began lowering himself closer to her, but it soon became apparent to him that if he were to fuck her right now, he wouldn't last. He  _ knew _ it would be over in seconds, and she would be disappointed.

Of course, he couldn't have that. 

He angled his hips away from the heat rolling off her, squaring himself over her leg to avoid temptation. His fingers began to ghost down her body, nails pressing in at random to relish her soft gasps in his mouth. When he finally arrived at his destination, he disconnected their lips and began to drag his teeth down the side of her throat.

She began to moan at the sensation, but the sound was interrupted when he passed his thumb over her wet, swollen clit. The moan turned into another gasp, and the gasp turned into a whine, the hand on his cock going slack as she closed her eyes in time with another swipe of his thumb.

He couldn't help the arrogance that came with feeling just how soaked she was. It was his turn to smirk at her now, lifting his head from her neck and looking down at her, hair falling in his eyes, to see her flushed, open-mouthed expression. She rolled her hips into his hand, shuddering as his fingers now found her entrance. 

"Look at you," he murmured, his voice clouded with lust. "You're so wet for me, Olivia."

He revealed in the sight of her. She couldn't even give a sarcastic quip that he'd been half expecting as his index finger pushed its way inside her. Anything she was about to say got lost in the groan she let out. 

Sebastian had never really really seen the appeal in fingering a woman before he was three fingers deep in Olivia. Her hair was messy, spread out on her pillow like a rumpled halo, her face flushed and covered in a thin sheen, her eyes fluttering open and closed in her pleasure, kiss-swollen lips parted lewdly as she panted her pleasure. One of her hands pinched a nipple, played with it right before his eyes, and the other hung just above his, rubbing softly at her clit as his fingers disappeared inside her. 

Suddenly, he realized why people did this. Though he was sure that no one else would ever get a sight even half as delicious as his.

He kissed her softly once, trailing his lips down her throat once more, making a stop at her neglected nipple for a moment, and then situated himself between her legs, not stopping his fingers. 

She peered down at him. "Seb, I-"

"Liv." He cut her off, batting her hand away and ghosting his breath over her bundle of nerves. "Liv, I  _ need _ to taste you."

From above him, she whimpered, but he didn't see her face before his disappeared into her, his tongue flicking out for real this time as her whimper turned into a cry. 

She tasted sweet; sweeter than any woman ever had, he was sure. His nose buried into the short, neat patch of hair she kept there as he lapped at her, never able to quite get enough. His fingers had gone slack as he savored her, a fact that momentarily upset him for neglecting her. When he began to move his digits in tandem with his mouth, she very nearly screamed, a beautifully indecent sound that kicked him into high gear.

He wanted her to know he was enjoying this as much as she was: his lips smacked against her loudly and enthusiastically as he let out little groans of his own. He drank her like a parched man finding an oasis in the desert, like she was the water he desperately needed. 

He could tell she was close when her muscular legs buckled, closing in on him and pulling him close. He allowed himself to slow for a half second to be impressed with the sheer power of her body before he doubled down to get her to that point. 

"O-oh,  _ Sebastian," _ she moaned as she climaxed, and he swore he could have joined her just by the sound of her voice if he hadn't been so focused on helping her ride it out. 

When he surfaced from between her legs, she reached out and grabbed him, pulling him up to her desperately, and he could feel her face burn against his as she kissed him hard. 

There was something about the way she looked, the way she kissed him, that he wanted to burn in his brain forever. She looked positively  _ wrecked _ underneath him, her lips frenzied on his. He never wanted to forget her this way, wanton and wracked with need. 

She pulled away from him, still slightly breathless. "Wish I had known you could do  _ that  _ earlier," she said with a chuckle. "But now-"

"Now I need to fuck you," he said bluntly, cutting her off for the second time, before realizing how sharp his tone was. "S-sorry, I just…"

He gestured, almost bashful, in the general direction of his dick, and she chuckled again. 

"Next time, just let me finish. I was going to say the same thing. Lay down."

Whatever forces had taken over him before had abandoned him, because he obeyed immediately, without his former facade of dominance, nestling among the pillows that she'd vacated as she climbed on top of him, her lithe body silent on the bed.

His long neglected cock was still hard, and he realized now that it was very nearly painful at being so overlooked. But he didn't have to wait long for relief - Olivia wasted no time sinking down onto him with a shuddering sigh.

It almost took him a moment to feel it, but when he did, stars exploded behind his eyes and fireworks crackled in his brain as he realized that he was inside her. She felt so warm, so utterly perfect around him. His hands gripped her waist, partly to make sure that she was still real, as he drew his knees up behind her for her to balance on. He couldn't even make a sound from his slackened jaw for fear of shattering the sensation.

And then she moved. Slowly, at first, her body meeting his thrusts easily, but soon picking up the pace. 

He remembered the time he had watched her fuck Shane from outside her window, but instead of feeling jealous, it ignited a fire in him as his hips snapped to hers faster and harder each time.

The sound of their skin slamming together, the feeling of her ass rippling against his legs as he drilled harder and harder into her, her hands clutching his shoulders wildly… if it wasn't the feeling of being inside her that would do him in, it would be the little nuances around it that would push him over the edge, he was sure.

"Fuck, Seb," she panted, her voice practically vibrating with the force of him. "A-ah, yes,  _ give it to me." _

He was aware that she was speaking, very vocal as she was being fucked. But he knew that if he focused on it, really listened to it, it would just be too much. Her lewd tone had already brought him so close, he didn't need any more.

In an effort to quiet her, he remembered her tryst with Shane once more and he snaked a hand up the plane of her chest to close around her throat, gently. She practically squealed at the feeling, twisting her hips in pleasure, causing both of them to groan.

He could feel her pulse, with his hand on her throat like that. Every time she breathed, or swallowed, or moaned, he could feel it. Her cries became strangled as his fingers tightened, a sound that sent ripples through his body, electrical currents that made it hard to keep going.

He had to stop her, even just for a second, or he wouldn’t last much longer. He released her throat and, with a grunt, nudged her off of him. She pouted, her bottom lip jutting out in a fake innocence that nearly made him laugh, until he flipped her over without warning, pulling her ass up to him and giving it a hard smack. 

“Oh!” she cried, looking back at him with lidded eyes. She bit her lip. “Do it again.”

He hadn’t exactly been planning the first one, so there wasn’t quite as much force behind it. But this one… well, she’d asked for it.

It seemed like the room moved in slow motion as his hand connected with the curve of her ass, watching in wonder as the skin billowed out under his touch, the sound echoing on the walls. She let out another cry, burying her face into the pillow.

“Again,” she ordered, her voice muffled. “Fuck, Seb, hit me again.”

He felt like he was in a trance as he wound up to the other cheek, time slowing once more. It seemed like she would demand another, yet again, before he decided he couldn’t wait any longer, and unceremoniously entered her once more.

It was his turn to let out a cry, his weeping cock finally finding its relief once more. “Fuuuuuck.”

Head still buried in the pillows, Olivia let out a breathy chuckle before he resumed his crushing pace from before, and she stuttered out a moan into the fabric. 

He tested out a few angled before slapping her ass again, and she finally turned to look at him. She may have spoken, too, but that one look was all he needed before his vision nearly whited out and he came inside her with a near-shout. 

A bit taken aback by the suddenness of it all, he didn’t pull out of her right away, and instead slumped against her back as he felt himself go soft. She maneuvered herself to kiss the side of his face.

When he finally did find the energy to untangle himself, he laid back down on the pillows, exhausted. She kissed him on the head before getting out of bed herself, needlessly explaining where she was going.

As he laid there on top of the blankets, the air cooling quickly around him, he felt a haze settle over him. Triumphant, almost. More satisfied than he’d ever been. 

He wondered vaguely what Olivia thought of their encounter. To her, perhaps, it was just a good fuck. But to him… he  _ loved _ her. He watched her crawl back into bed beside him, covering them both with her soft comforter, and snuggling into his side, and thought, hoped, that perhaps she felt the same way he did.

She sighed contentedly as she rested her head on his shoulder, and didn’t even comment on how bony he was. “That was a lot of fun,” she said dreamily. 

He didn’t respond right away, just pulled her closer and wrapped the arm that wasn’t wound around her back across her chest. He kissed her hair and breathed in her scent deeply. It was mixed with his now. Her and him and sweat and love.

He waited a long time to speak again. He knew she wasn’t asleep, her breathing was too regulated, but she was close.

“I love you,” he murmured, not seeing any reason to hold back now when he felt like his chest was going to explode for how strongly he loved her. 

She was quiet. But she’d heard him. Her heartbeat picked up, he could practically hear it thrumming in his ears. But she said nothing.

And that was fine with him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Someone wanna tell me why my monkey brain decided the longest chapter would be the only one with the actual sex in it??????
> 
> I am now entering my obligatory period of shame where I write filth and can't even think about it without feeling embarrassed. Please please send me your thoughts!!! I want to know where I can improve.
> 
> Also, I promise that the big reveal is coming. I just realized that once I do that, there's no going back for Seb and Olivia and this little detour definitely fits. Stay tuned!
> 
> Find me over on [Tumblr!](https://wonder-tweeks.tumblr.com/) I've decided I'd like to try to take some requests for things if anyone has anything. Now that I write dirty shit and all. Let me know! I might try to find a prompt thing, who knows!!


	9. Chapter 9

Winter Star dawned on the valley with bright, warm sunshine, and clear skies despite the snow that fell the day before.

Sebastian woke up to his mother knocking loudly on his door. 

“Sebby,” she called through the heavy wood. “Sebby, it’s time to wake up. Come help me with these pumpkin pies.”

“Can’t Maru do it?”

A scoff. “Do you  _ really _ want to eat something Maru helped make? Cause I sure don’t.”

It was almost a tradition at this point; Sebastian knew that Maru was hopeless at baking, getting too caught up in exact measurements and chemical components and usually walking away once her dessert was already in the oven to conduct her own experiments. The last time Maru tried to bake, she caught the entire oven on fire, and they almost had to replace the surrounding counters in the aftermath. 

Sebastian wasn’t much better, but at least he stuck around in the kitchen while his creations baked, and he’d never caught anything on fire (by accident, anyway). Robin did the bulk of the work most times when it came to baking for town events, and Sebastian was just there to watch. 

He did actually enjoy spending this time with his mother, though he’d never give her the smug satisfaction and admit that to her. Demetrius would always be too busy to help (or, like Maru, his own destructive version of helping) and it was nice to just have Robin’s time like this. 

When he entered the kitchen, he was pleased to see that all the prep work had already been done. Robin was a stickler for homemade pies, and Sebastian found the process so boring. He liked mashing the pumpkin and filling the pies, though, and he was glad that she saved it for him. 

As they worked, she told him about the projects she wanted to take on in the new year, once the snow melted. Apparently, the bridge to the quarry had been in a state of disrepair for long enough that she’d had enough and wanted to fix it herself. In turn, he told her about his projects, and she listened with interest as he explained the technical terms to help her better understand. He knew she didn’t  _ really _ get it, but it touched him regardless.

With their pies in the oven, he helped her wrap her secret gift to Marnie, an awkwardly shaped box of various animal patterned shelving. All Sebastian knew about Marnie was from Olivia, but he was sure she’d like it anyway. He felt bad that his gift to Emily was just a little gem ornament he’d found the last time he was in the city, but he didn’t think anyone would expect him to put the same effort into a gift as his mother did. 

A few hours later, the family of four headed down the mountain to the feast. They were joined by Linus, who was very clearly trying to sidle down unnoticed, but Robin wouldn’t have it. Surprisingly, the man seemed happy to join them. Sebastian remembered how he’d saved Olivia, and did his best to make him feel comfortable with the four of them, knowing how weary he was of strangers.

When they arrived, the festivities were in full swing. Robin and Sebastian distributed their pies, and then sat together around a table. Doctor Harvey shyly sat with them, welcomed just as Linus was. 

Sebastian scanned the area for Olivia. He didn’t see her at first, but that was because her face was obscured by a ridiculous hat on Jas’s head. The little girl sat on Olivia’s lap, her arms strung around her neck tightly, as though she was afraid she would leave. They were at a table with Shane and Marnie, Leah and Elliott off to the side as well. 

He frowned. He had invited her to sit with his family. So why was she sitting with  _ Shane? _

Maru, following his eyes, frowned too. “I thought you said she was going to sit with us.”

Demetrius cut in before Sebastian could answer, though. “I’m sure she will later. Just look at how happy Jas is, though. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that child smile so much before. I think we can let it go for a bit.”

Aside from an errant thought about how hasty his step father’s declaration was, and how sure it sounded, Sebastian brushed it off. Jas  _ was _ smiling a lot more, giggling as she played with Olivia’s hair. The poor girl was always so miserable, and it made the corners of his mouth tug into a smile at the sight. 

She’d come over, eventually. He was sure of it.

Although, truthfully, he wasn’t sure if he believed that. He’d barely heard from her since their night together, a few nights ago. He’d only gotten a text to their group chat with Sam and Abby on Friday saying that she wouldn’t be able to make it to the Saloon due to a cow being injured. 

And then he saw Shane put a hand on Olivia’s shoulder. His head turned enough so that Sebastian could see a surprisingly warm smile, definitely not one he expected to see on Shane’s perpetually grumpy face.

It made his blood boil. What gave him the right to touch  _ her?  _ In front of everyone?

What the hell was it with Shane that just felt unsettling in the pit of his stomach? Sebastian had never been fond of him, of course, but now? Now even the thought of the other man made him angry, and the sight in front of him made him clench his fists, silently fume beside his family.

But what could he do? It wasn’t like Olivia was his girlfriend. They hadn’t gotten to that part yet. He’d seen her fuck Shane before, too, so even that arguement was out of the question. And it wasn’t illegal for someone else to touch her, even if it felt like it should be.

He tried to look away, but the scene unfolding across the town square held his attention and didn't let him look away. Olivia smiled back at Shane, bumped her arm against his, leaned her head in. It looked like he whispered something to her, and it made her and Jas both laugh. Sebastian could hear them from where he was.

To his horror, nothing got past his mother. He clearly wasn’t acting as calm as he thought he was as he noticed that she was looking over at the other table as well.

“Did… did something happen?” she asked him quietly, so Demetrius and Maru wouldn’t hear. “Is there a reason that she’s not sitting with us?”

Sebastian shrugged. “I mean… no? We… uh… well...”

He trailed off, unable to tell her. He hated talking about his personal life with his mother, but this time, he couldn’t help it. Something inside him was just so desperate for someone else to see what he was going through, to know how he felt. She sighed, clicked her tongue, and patted his arm softly. 

He still couldn’t stop looking at them. Strangely, when Harvey noticed his expression, the doctor looked back to see what Sebastian was staring at, and shifted his body enough so that between him and Maru, Sebastian’s view of the other table was blocked.

He frowned. What was that about?

He tried to ignore it and the feeling of gnawing jealousy as the last few people arrived and the feast began. Sebastian wasn’t feeling particularly hungry after the spectacle he’d witnessed, but he let Robin fill up his plate regardless, eating slowly, without really tasting it.

His thoughts were all filled with Olivia. What was she trying to do? Was it all just an innocent, perhaps overly clingy interaction between two friends, and a little girl who loved her? Or was there more to it? Was she trying to play with  _ both of them? _

He supposed that she was within her rights to do so. Nothing was official between them, and he hadn’t heard about anything being official between her and Shane aside from some scandalized gossip between Sam and Abby’s mothers. But it still felt… wrong. 

He didn’t say anything the entire meal, but no one seemed too surprised by that. The conversation was mostly between Demetrius and Harvey, debating science, with Maru interjecting at intervals. He couldn’t keep up with them. 

When the feast ended, Lewis declared that it was time to exchange gifts.

Sebastian had always thought that the traditions in the Valley were a bit strange, but his bank account certainly appreciated that there was no social pressure to buy gifts for anyone he didn’t want to. 

He gave his gift to Emily, who appeared to genuinely love it. She hugged him, and he patted her back awkwardly. He faced the tree for his gift giver to approach.

He turned when he heard their footsteps stop behind him. He remembered for a brief moment the “mudcake” Vincent had given him the year before and hoped that whatever he was getting this year was a little less… muddy.

His heart stopped when he saw who stood there, shyly standing with a box in her hands.

Olivia.

He was sure he smiled too quickly, his face burning, but he didn’t care. She smiled back, and that was all that mattered.

“Here,” she said, moving closer to be just in front of him, holding the box out. “I made this. Might wanna make something up to tell your mom about what it is before you get back.”

The box was small, wrapped in neat, silver wrapping with a meticulous bow on top. He almost felt bad for ruining her wrapping job, and opened one of the sides gently to not rip the paper. He pulled the box out, flipping open the lid.

His breath caught when he saw it. He let out a laugh as he realized what she’d presented him with. 

“You made this?” he asked in awe. She nodded.

“A hobby I picked up,” she replied. “Turns out that, very unexpectedly, Clint is really into glassware and taught me how to make my own stuff. Took me forever to get this right. It’s made from frozen tears.”

With one hand on the bottom of the box, he pulled out the miniature figurine of a bong, of all things. It was delicate, beautiful, and he could even see where she’d used frozen tears and what looked to be amethyst.

His voice was small when he spoke. “I can’t believe… Liv, this is… this is so thoughtful.”

She shrugged, that small smile still on her face. “I’m glad you’re my friend, Sebastian.”

Without even thinking, he felt his hands replace the figurine in the box, tucking it into his pocket. His feet brought him to her and in one movement, he pulled her in and kissed her. His eyes fluttered closed, trying to convey all his emotions into the action.

But he felt her stiffen in his grasp. She did not kiss him back.

No, she pulled away, a deep frown on her face. Sebastian’s blood ran cold at the sight of it.

“What are you doing?” she asked, her voice barely above a whisper. While she had moved herself back a bit, it wasn’t very far. Her breath billowed over his face, warm and minty. “I… no. Bye, Seb.”

Before he could say anything, ask what was wrong, she gave him one last look and quickly walked away. He could see that Shane had stood from his chair, tried to intercept her, but she brushed him off as well and made her way out of the party, towards the farm.

When she was out of sight, Shane looked back at Sebastian, who hadn’t moved, with a strange look, both of anger and of pity.

But why? Sebastian didn’t need his pity. Or his anger, for that matter. 

Eventually, Shane just shook his head and sat back down.

But Sebastian couldn’t just go back to his family’s table. Something was clearly wrong. So he shook his head, and followed Olivia’s footprints in the snow back to the farm to find out.

*~*

She was crying when he got there.

The door wasn’t locked, it never was. He knocked quietly, but when she didn’t answer, he opened the door and poked his head in just to check on her. He wasn’t sure if she had wanted him to follow her after her little scene in the town square, but it seemed like she wasted no time in letting out her frustration.

He hesitated, before pushing all logic out of his brain as he shut the door behind him. He called out to her. “Liv? Olivia?”

She gave a great sniff before answering. “S-Seb? Is that you?”

She was in her room. He followed the sound of her voice to see her sprawled out on her bed, cradling her pillow underneath her. Though she hadn’t turned the light on, there was enough spilling into the room from the hallway to see that her eyes were red and swollen.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, tentatively approaching the bed. She held a hand out to him, pulled him down to sit beside her.

“Leah didn’t like her gift,” Olivia replied, her voice thick with the tears she’d shed. “I spent so much time on it - you  _ know _ how hard I worked on it - and she pretended to like it but… I know she didn’t. I could see it on her face. She  _ hated it.  _ I’m so stupid, Sebastian…”

Pushing aside the nagging reminder that he hadn’t seen Olivia give Leah a gift, nor had he even realized that she was working on one, and forgetting that she had just run away from him in front of the whole town, he patted her hand. He’d never seen her cry before. It pulled on his heart, almost made him feel ill at the idea that she could ever be sad.

“I’m sure she didn’t hate - “ he tried to begin, but she was wracked with another sob.

“Yes she did! You were there, Seb! You saw her face! That horrible way she said thank you… I might as well have given her a box of shit for how she reacted!”

Something wasn’t right, but Sebastian couldn’t focus on that. Muting the alarm bells going off in his head, he situated himself better on the bed, gathered her up in his arms, pulled her tightly to him. She did not protest, and instead, shrunk herself into him as she cried.

Truthfully, he didn’t even know if he was helping at all. He awkwardly rubbed her back, trying to soothe her. When her sniffles stopped, and her breathing returned to normal, though, he relaxed a little. Perhaps he had been a comfort.

“Thanks, Seb,” she said, her voice, though muffled in his chest, sounded more steady, less watery. “I feel really stupid. But I feel better having you here.”

He didn’t know what was going on, why she was crying about something that didn’t happen. Perhaps it was some kind of euphemism for rejecting him in front of the whole town, he didn’t know. But he didn’t care anymore. All that mattered to him now was her in his arms, despite the nagging voice at the back of his head telling him to figure out what really happened. He barely even remembered it at this point.

She wriggled upwards to rest her head in the crook of his neck. He could feel her breath on him - he could tell the contact was making his heart race, and she could definitely tell, but he didnt care. Maybe it would make her feel better to know the effect she had on him, even now.

“How did you know I would be here?” she asked after a few moments passed in silence. “I mean… I don’t know where else I’d go. But you came so fast…”

“You looked really sad,” Sebastian answered lamely. “I dunno, I guess I just didn’t want you to be sad by yourself.”

She looked up at him - eyes still puffy, rimmed red, shining with unshed tears - and gave him a small smile, a huffed, embarrassed laugh.

“You must think I’m really stupid.”

He frowned. “Of course I don’t think you’re stupid.” 

Did she really think he could ever think anything less than the best of her? What had he said to make her think that? He hoped that perhaps this was just something she was saying, not something she really believed.

She sniffled, and he pulled her even tighter, nearly crushing her to his chest. She did not protest.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I’m ruining the holiday. I should have just gotten her supplies or something instead of wasting all that time learning how to woodwork and making her that  _ stupid _ sculpture…”

Ah, so that’s what this was over. Even though Sebastian had no idea what sculpture she was talking about, nor that she had learned to woodwork, he patted her back, trying his best to seem like he’d been part of the whole process.

“I thought it was nice,” he said, leaning into the comforting act he was trying to soothe her with. “I hope that when she gets home she’ll realize the effort you put into it, and realize how much it meant to you to give her a good gift.”

“Me too.” She sighed, her face burrowing back into the skin of his neck. “Thanks, Seb.”

“Always.”

They sat like that for a while longer, until Olivia began to get restless. Sebastian had thought that she’d fallen asleep a few times, but clearly, she was too full of energy to do so. He held her at arms length to see her face; her eyes had returned to their normal state, if a bit red. She looked up at him with an expression he couldn’t read.

“I need to give you your gift,” she said, somewhat breathless despite not having moved for the past hour. “I couldn’t really give it to you in front of the whole town.”

Before he could ask, she pushed herself away from his body and nimbly got off the bed. 

“I need you to leave the room for a minute,” she said, brushing herself off. “Go, like, get some water or something. I need to prepare.”

Intrigued, Sebastian did as he was told. She was on his heels, shutting the door behind him the moment he was clear of the frame. As he wandered into the kitchen, he wondered what his gift could possibly be, but coming up empty.

He tried not to let his thoughts drift to the bizarre circumstances of his current situation, but he couldn’t help it. 

Leah hadn’t been Olivia’s gift recipient, it was him. Right? But when he reached into his pocket,  _ sure _ he could find the box she’d given him earlier, they were both empty, no trace of anything in either of them.

He panicked. Where could he have lost the box? He would have seen it if it fell out while he was on Olivia’s bed, and he couldn’t have lost it earlier. He’d thumbed the smooth wrapping the entire walk from the town to the farm.

So where the fuck did it go?

His mouth was dry, he started to sweat. The most perfect gift given to him by the most perfect woman… gone. With no leads, he started to pace back and forth in between the dining table and the kitchen. 

How was he supposed to explain that he’d lost the gift she worked so hard on? This would clearly be a worse affront that Leah not liking the gift she’d been given. 

This was bad. What if she thought that he’d lost it on purpose? She was clearly still upset about the earlier incident, and now he’d just make it worse. 

No. She was reasonable. She lost things all the time, constantly asking Sam and Abby if they’d seen her put something down and where it could be now. She would understand, maybe even help him look.

And… she hadn’t even mentioned the figurine all night. Maybe she forgot she’d given it to him. 

Significantly calmer after letting his thoughts play out, he dropped into the empty dining room chair. He shook his head, chastising himself for even worrying about her reaction in the first place. He knew her better than that.

It would be fine. 

Her door creaked open and she called to him from within the room. He went back in, now once again wondering what his gift might be.

When he peeked his head in, he didn’t see her. All he saw was a fortress of pillows and blankets built up on the bed. He couldn’t help the laugh that came from him, and her head popped out of the middle of the fort at the sound.

“Happy Winter Star!” she exclaimed. “My gift to you: a cuddle puddle. I know it just looks like a blanket fort right now, but I need you to come over here and make it a puddle. The cat is in here somewhere, too.”

He grinned so hard he was sure his cheeks would start to hurt if he kept it up. Not wasting any more time, he made his way over and looked for his opening. Finding it, he crawled into the pile of pillows beside her. Immediately, she was on him, arms wrapping around his neck, face nuzzling into his. His cheeks grew warm at the contact.

“It’s cozy,” he commented. “I didn’t get you anything, I’m sorry…”

She didn’t let him continue. “You stuck around while I stupid-ugly cried about something and made it not matter anymore. That’s a pretty good gift, I’d say. Oh, and…” Her hand, once wrapped around him, roamed around his chest with no hesitation. “I can think of something else we can call a gift.”

“Oh? And what might that be?”

She gave him a wicked grin, a gleam in her eyes now instead of tears. Her wandering hands found the hem of his shirt, walking her fingers up his skin. He hissed slightly at the contact - her hands were freezing. But he liked it regardless.

With her other hand, she pushed on the back of his neck to bring him down enough to kiss him. He returned it eagerly, all other thoughts leaving his head as she moved her lips and touched his chest.

Just as her hand ventured lower, fingers crawling their way past the waistband of his pants, sending sparks through his body, everything began to feel fuzzy at the edges. He pulled away from Olivia, opening his eyes to find that… she wasn’t there.

He was in a bed, yes, but it wasn’t Olivia’s. And it wasn’t his, either.

“Ah, you’re awake.”

He shot up, blankets going everywhere, confused as hell and beginning to feel angry. He looked around wildly to find Harvey; he was in the clinic.

“The fuck?” he asked, unable to think of anything else to say. His head hurt all of a sudden, and he felt weak, like he hadn’t eaten in an entire day. Harvey noticed this, and pushed a table with some toast and water on it over to him.

“You had a bit of a nasty fall,” Harvey explained, calm despite everything that was rushing through Sebastian’s head. “You slipped on some ice and hit the fence in the square.”

...Had he? He didn’t remember that. All he remembered was Olivia…

And her gift!

He frantically began digging around in his pockets for the box, letting out a great sigh of relief when his fingers curled around the smooth paper. He pulled it out to look at it, just to be sure. It was exactly as he remembered it.

From the corner of his eye, he saw Harvey frown. He looked like he wanted to say something, but perhaps decided against it and said nothing instead.

“If you’re feeling better,” he told Sebastian, “you can leave to spend the rest of the night with your family. You don’t have a concussion, just got knocked out a little.”

Tucking the box back into his pocket safely, Sebastian began to wonder again. Wonder about Olivia. Had it been a dream? Harvey didn’t say where he slipped. But… they weren’t exactly in a blanket fort on the ice outside. 

It felt a bit overwhelming to think about. Though he desperately wanted to figure out what was going on with his brain, he didn’t think he wanted to know right away.

So, with no answers from the doctor, he collected himself and went home, sneaking in through the garage to save himself from having to deal with his mother and sister, and crawled into bed. 

His dreams were full of her icy cold fingers, but for some reason, they didn’t feel as good as they did before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i am so sorry this took so long! I've been mapping out what I want to happen here and it's taking me a little longer than it usually does to get my shit together. 
> 
> As always, thank you for reading! I hope I won't be keeping you all in the dark for too much longer :)
> 
> Find me over on [Tumblr!](https://wonder-tweeks.tumblr.com/) I am taking requests still, they might just be a bit delayed because my life has been nuts lately.


End file.
